In the Beginning was Information
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hydrodynamic generators, and photo-voltaic elements. The efficiency of <strong>the</strong>latter is only about 10 %, and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs are not yet technologically viable.Even in <strong>the</strong> sunny sou<strong>the</strong>rn regions of Europe, solar power installations,employing concave mirrors to generate steam (which <strong>the</strong>n drives turbinesfor <strong>the</strong> production of electricity), require a total mirror surface of 26,000 m 2(2.5 football fields) to generate 1 GWh per annum [X1]. This amounts toone million kilowatt-hours per year – enough to supply 350 homes. Itwould require an enormous area of 68 square kilometres to generate <strong>the</strong>same quantity of electricity as that which can be produced by one 1,300Megawatt nuclear power plant. This area could accommodate 150,000urban inhabitants.Wind-driven power plants also require a lot of space. It would require 800to 900 windmill towers of 150 metres to equal <strong>the</strong> energy production ofone 1,300 Megawatt nuclear plant. Four chains of such windmills separatedby a distance of 400 metres would extend over a distance of 80 km.A3.2.2 Utilisation of Energy in Biological Systems (Photosyn<strong>the</strong>sis)Photosyn<strong>the</strong>sis is <strong>the</strong> only natural process by means of which large quantitiesof solar energy can be stored. Requiring only carbon dioxide (CO 2 ),water (H 2 O), and small quantities of certain minerals, it is <strong>the</strong> fundamentalprocess for supplying <strong>the</strong> energy which plants need for growth and reproduction.The organic substances produced by plants are <strong>the</strong> primarysource of nutrition and energy for all heterotrophic 25 organisms whichcannot utilise photosyn<strong>the</strong>sis directly. It can truthfully be stated that photosyn<strong>the</strong>sisis <strong>the</strong> primary source of energy for all life processes and it alsoprovides most of <strong>the</strong> usable energy on earth. All fossil fuels and raw mate-25 Heterotrophic cells are cells which require complex nutrients like glucose andamino acids for constructing <strong>the</strong>ir vital macro-molecular compounds and to provide<strong>the</strong> necessary energy. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, <strong>the</strong>re are <strong>the</strong> so-called phototropic cellswhich are photosyn<strong>the</strong>tically active and can thus store chemical energy by <strong>the</strong> directconversion of light energy.Figure 43: The four kinds of order. The entity “order” which characterises systemscan only be described verbally and not ma<strong>the</strong>matically. We can distinguishbetween order achieved by means of natural laws, and intentional order. Structureswhich figure in physical systems can only be maintained as long as <strong>the</strong> gradientsresponsible for <strong>the</strong>ir existence (e.g. temperature difference), are active. Such anordering cannot be stored and thus does not refer to a possible evolution. <strong>In</strong> <strong>the</strong>lower part of <strong>the</strong> diagram ordered systems which are without exception based onsome plan are listed. <strong>In</strong> <strong>the</strong>se cases information is ei<strong>the</strong>r involved directly, or <strong>the</strong>reare structures which originated through information.229