In the Beginning was Information

The ripple patterns produced in beach sand by retreating tides represent acertain order imparted by energetic processes (Figure 44), but there is nounderlying code and also no intention. Such order does not representinformation and thus cannot be stored.A3.2 Strategies for Maximising the Utilisation of EnergyThe utilisation and consumption of energy is always a question of convertingone form of energy into another. When the energy produced by acertain source is utilised, the objective is to use the energy as economicallyas possible. In other words, maximum efficiency is the goal, employinga strategy for maximisation. The following sections are devoted to a discussionof technical and biological systems where this principle is used.When energy is consumed, the inverse strategy becomes important, namelyminimisation of consumption: the available fuel must be used as economicallyas possible. The required work then has to be done with a minimalinput of energy. The brilliant methods and the superlative resultsachieved by biological systems, are discussed in paragraph A3.3.A3.2.1 Utilisation of Energy in Technological SystemsMan’s inventiveness has produced numerous concepts in the field of energyproduction and utilisation. In most cases the conversion of energy fromthe primary source to the consumer entails a number of forms of energy.For example, the chemical energy of fuel is converted into heat, the heat isthen utilised to produce mechanical work, which, in its turn, is convertedinto electrical power. In a car engine the chemical energy of the fuelchanges into heat in the combustion chambers, and the explosive expansionof the gases is converted into mechanical work. An electric light bulbconverts electrical energy into heat and light. Losses occur during allthese conversions, and the ratio between the input energy and the recoveredenergy represents the efficiency of the process. Even in present-daycoal-burning steam generating plants, the efficiency is only about 40 %,this means that 60 % of the chemical energy of the coal is lost.In 1993 the total amount of energy generated in Germany was 536.6 TWh[F2, p 1007]. About 5 % of this total was water energy, 29.6 % was obtainedfrom nuclear reactions, and the rest was generated by the combustion of fossiland other fuels (coal and lignite 55.4 %, plus natural gas, oil, and diverseother sources). With the exception of the limited hydro-electrical sources, allthese processes involve heat conversion with its low efficiency.Great technological efforts are exerted to achieve direct conversion of energywithout any intermediate forms. Examples include fuel cells, magneto-227