RIXC conference text

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Hi, my name is Michal Mitro and I’ll be presenting a video-essay on Energy Justice in Planetary Context. What you’re looking at are mostly shots from my off-grid garden where I live but also from my travels. Because I had to cut and speed up to video to make it 15mins, I chose not to add overvoice, but rather share some more information in textual form here with you. May you be interested, there’s a specific post that has videos and pictures of the materialisation of the concept as well here.

NATURE MAN TECHNOLOGY MAN NATURE

In context of planetary thermodynamics, every human and non-human constitutes a tiny thermodynamic unit operating within the planetary system and energetically contributing towards it. Historically, these contributions have been extremely faint, thus their effect was negligible in planetary scale. Nevertheless, ever since industrial revolution, we have been contributing a great deal to the process of terraforming12 reshaping the planet’s surface and ecology in general. Human race (or better said its certain members and organisations) now take a leading role in shaping the present and future living conditions of the planet which constitutes current geologic epoch as that of Anthropocene.13

AN APPLE. WILL MATEO EAT IT, OR SHALL THE LIZARD EAT IT THEN? THE PHYSICALITY OF EVERY BODY ON THIS PLANET.

Coming back to thermodynamics, humans have performed and triggered processes and extensive amounts of work on the global ecosystem both in form of mechanical work and heat. Thus, unavoidably, the planet accumulates more and more energy potential. As the planet doesn’t transfer the energy on its surroundings as quickly as it gains it, and as the energy can’t ever vanish, but only transfer from mechanical to thermal and vice versa, the planet necessarily heats up.

POINT OF NO RETURN BY RYOJI IKEDA. IT CONTRASTS A LARGE BLACK HOLE INSIDE OF THE WHITE HOLE

the first law of thermodynamics is as follows:

∆U = Q – W

In a process without transfer of matter, the change in internal energy, ΔU, of a thermodynamic system is equal to the energy gained as heat, Q, less the thermodynamic work, W, done by the system on its surroundings.11 It also implies the principle of Conservation of Energy. The energy can be transformed – changed from one form to another and from one system to another – but cannot be created or destroyed.

THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES

YOU’RE SO IKEA

EMIRATES ROYAL DOCKS LONDON

MONROE

SMURFS AND HELLO KITTY

WINDOWS 10

STROBE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

In context of planetary thermodynamics, I propose to adopt The Energy Justice Commitment

1. Planet Earth is but one single entity that knows no nations, no borders nor any other man-made distinctions.

2. Energy is to be recognised as the sole and universal storage of value.

3. Human efforts are to be judged against their energy contribution to the planetary thermodynamic ecosystem.

4. Non-human efforts are to be judged against their energy contribution to the planetary thermodynamic ecosystem.

5. Humans and Non-humans alike are considered equal actors in the global ecosystem.

6. Distinction of race, sex, gender, age, education, nature of undertaken efforts and their social prestige are to be rendered utterly irrelevant.

7. The exploitation of fossil fuels is no longer thinkable and is to be abandoned immediately.

8. Every human deserves an Unconditional Energy Income (UEI) of 10000kJ as a mean Energy reference.

9. The Energy is to be harnessed solely from renewable sources.

As for electricity, these are the power of natural elements.

As for calories, these are to be gathered from bodies of plants.

10. Total sum of energy spent and energy produced must be in equilibrium to ensure the maintenance of Global Energy Justice.

11. Base of global politics is to be derived from principles of physics – the planetary thermodynamics.

TOMATOES GROW

1 TOMATO SUPPLIES 18 CALORIES

MY TOMATOS DIDN’T RIPE

I PICKLED THEM GREEN

18 CALORIES EQAUL TO 75 KILOJAULES

DAILY NUTRITIONAL INTAKE FOR AN AVARAGE ADULT IS 10000KJ WHICH IS 2400CALORIES

1 HOUR OF GARDENING EXPENDS 370 CALORIES

TO MEET ENERGY INVESTED INTO GROWING TOMATOES, I SHALL EAT 20 TOMATOES PER OF HOUR OF GARDENING

DEMAND ENERGY JUSTICE

WHY SHOULD I RELATE TO NATURE

WHAT ARE NATURAL RELATIONSHIPS

A SNAIL AS A METAPHOR OF:

CANIBALISM, NATURALISM, OMNIVORE, ADPATATION, SINGLE PARENT, CAPITALSIM

A SNAIL AS A METAPHOR.

HOW DOES THE NATURE RELATE TO ME?

Every human, regardless of race, gender, sex, occupation, education and status is a living organism that consumes and expends (fairly similar amounts of) energy. As such we are all part of one large thermodynamic system that is our planet Earth. When physics is the new politics and economics, the energy impact shall be of sole importance as its optimisation and just distribution lies at the core of inhabitable future imaginaries.

Just as every human is an energetic microsystem so is every other agent inhabiting the planet. Every single entity from the realms of fauna and flora, every single mineral, mountain, river, literally everything that is to be found on the planet. Even man-made objects – technology in general – shall be no exception. After all “technical objects emerge through the process of artificialization – a human gesture of abstraction that renders a natural object technical and sets it on the course of technical evolution (e.g. by processing monocrystalline silicon from quartz and turning it into a computer microchip)

We shall finally dispose of dated dichotomies.

human/nature

nurture/nature

culture/nature

technology/nature

It seems like the game has been the human race against everything else there is. Inside that game, it seems like the game’s been one man against every other. It may seem as if these few men were winning. Being Planetary, we can either all win or all loose. The planet, nevertheless, remains indifferent… to both winners and losers. It isn’t governed by ethics, politics, or economics. It only is governed by universal laws of physics.

In a process without transfer of matter, the change in internal energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the energy gained as heat less the thermodynamic work done by the system on its surroundings.

∆U = Q – W

If there’s more you’d like to learn about the project, I can provide you with a copy of my thesis exploring these topics. please drop me a message.