Dust Bunnies, Civilization, and the Circular Economy Fable
Entropy Bites!
The Second Law holds that all systems always become more disorganized. Yet the substance of Civilization is Order. Thus, Civilization consists of humanity's perpetual struggle against entropy. And the heart of that struggle is Energy.
Dust bunnies are entropy in action. We encounter them in our daily life. Greek philosophers wrote about the otherwise invisible particles ever-floating round us that are detected only in certain light.
Depending on the source of generation, dust bunnies will be found to contain small particles of various origin. Most of us don't ever stop to consider what's going on with dust bunnies. But they are relevant sources of information. The bunnies I have studied contain particles and fibers that, when new, required a great deal of energy, invention, work, cost, and effort to produce (e.g. rayon , nylon, cotton, paper). Ever wonder why there’s not a Lint Recycling Bin on every corner to recover these valuable fibers?
Simple answer is that dust bunnies and dryer lint have too much entropy. Recovery of cotton and paper fibers from my dryer would require far more energy than the effort would merit.
Proponents of “sustainable” or “renewable” “energy” in the form of wind, solar, and batteries have invented a Fable known as the Circular Economy. The main character in the Circular Economy fable is named Recycling.
Carbon—Super Villain! Recycling—Superhero!
Yet the Circular Economy amounts to a Perpetual Motion Machine as applied to Wind-Solar-Batteries. Because of Entropy.
Entropy shows that energy is required to mine and refine minerals. This process reduces entropy and generates pure minerals. This energy is almost 100% fossil fuels. The market cost of producing new minerals is a good indication of the mostly fossil fuel energy required to mine and refine the minerals, manage wastes, etc. Copper. Silver. Aluminum. Polysilicon. Steel.
Today, silver is valued at $18 per Troy ounce. Solar panels use about 60 g of silver paste. Industry is working to reduce this requirement but the cost of silver per solar panel is small. While 1/3 Troy oz silver per panel is a small amount, on scale, solar panel fabrication in 2021 consumed fully 9% of all Silver produced in the world. And all that silver is lost to entropy.
When a solar panel becomes useless due to time or casualty, like hail, the panel contains about 1/3 oz of unrefined silver paste. IF that were refined silver .99% - it would be worth about $6.
In the land of Unicorns, Faeries, and Perpetual Motion Machines (e.g., Germany, figure below), they can just Wish-Cycle away minor details like the laws of thermodynamics. The cost in terms of new fossil fuel to “recycle” 1/3 oz of silver from a panel are much higher than mining new silver
Every step in this Magic Circular Economy requires energy. In the case of PV, that energy is and will always be almost 100% fossil fuel. Here’s a research paper on the production of PV Panels:
Why do we burn coal and trees to make solar panels?
Far from Replace fossil fuels, PV solar perpetuate fossil energy fuel ad infinitum. Renewable. Green. Sustainable.
Undaunted by facts and the laws of thermodynamics, the EU mandates recycling of PV panels. Naturally, they ignore the new fossil fuels and carbon required to “recycle.” These impacts significantly increase the “carbon debt” that should be allocated to recycled PV panels. Entropy Bites. Reversing entropy consumes enormous stored solar chemical energy made by the sun aka fossil fuels. Laws and Wish-Cycling will never change this.
So, the next time a wind-solar-battery machine advocate says it's possible to "recycle" PV solar panels or wind turbine blades, bear in mind it's also possible to turn the carbon in dust bunnies into diamonds.
That laws "mandating" the recycling of dust bunnies & such are 100% Greenwashing, and that politicians who pass them are....
Because turning dust bunnies into diamonds--like "recycling" most anything (even steel)--requires (directly and indirectly) vast amounts of new fossil fuel energy.
The Circular Economy is just a fable that produces naught but Chaotic, High-Entropy Energy. This is why the Chinese call it Garbage Power:
