Just So You Know: Heat Cannot Flow and Energy Can Neither Be Created Nor Destroyed

The "First Law of Thermodynamics" states (paraphrased) that energy can neither be created nor destroyed....only transformed from one form to another.

Formally Stated:
The first law of thermodynamics asserts that energy must be conserved in any process involving the exchange of heat and work between a system and its surroundings.

The "Second Law of Thermodynamics" puts a less-than-100% upper limit on the percentage of a given form of energy that can be converted into other forms of energy.

This is Nature's "There's no such thing as a free lunch" rule. No perpetual motion machines nor "free energy" systems.

The "Third Law of Thermodynamics" states that it is impossible to cool a body to absolute zero by any finite process or finite sequence of cyclical processes.

Formally Stated:
The entropy of a substance approaches zero as its temperature approaches absolute zero law of thermodynamics - (physics) a law governing the relations between states of energy in a closed system

Informal Translation: No process involving energy is completely reversible.
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So, why am I harping on this seemingly boring material now? Well, there was a book published in 1972 entitled, "Limits to Growth." This book details the computer modeling of unchecked economic and population growth with finite resource supplies. I see it as "Civilization's" confirmation of both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. This book and its computer simulation-based graph results asserts that we won't be able to completely undo what we do to the Planet. There will be residual environmental damage that we will never be able to remedy...no matter what technology we employ in our attempt to complete such an honorable task. Sustainability will eventually be attained, but at a much lower creature comfort level than we are now at. So, Nature's self-evident "Third Law of Thermodynamics" (equilibrium state of minimum energy and maximum entropy) concurs with the claims made in "Limits to Growth."

So, that's my connect-the-dots lesson for you today. Oh, and one more thing (as Inspector Columbo would often say in the tv series):

Nature ALWAYS bats last...

Our undeclared War on Nature is not one that we can definitively win. At least, not at a creature comfort level that we've grown accustomed to. Sustainability at a much lower level is possible...but is it tolerable? Are we ready to rachet down our seemingly manic consumption binging?
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