time. The use of energy is improvident and wasteful, replacing
diversity with mass production for quick return, which Nature can-
not tolerate. Where once rich forest flourished, with a wide diver-
sity of interdependent species of trees and animals, there exist now
only monocultures. This requires enormous, hedgeless fields
where only one crop is grown, dependent on fertilizers that slowly
destroy the living humus; they become monotonous environmen-
tal wastelands. Gone are the high yielding, organically nourished
fields surrounded by windbreaking hedgerows teeming with birds,
small animals and wildflowers. The frequently reported notices of
endangered or newly extinct species bear witness to this ebbing
biodiversity.
What Schauberger calls the 'techno-mechanical economic sys-
tem' produces a downward curve, accelerating as unnatural systems
of energy are applied more widely. Pollution apart, these systems are
clearly inefficient. In the 1970s, Walter Schauberger discussed
industrial efficiency with Dr Fritz Kortegast, head of research and
development at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, who confirmed that at
that time the propulsive energy produced by their most sophisti-
cated engines was only 13% of the total energy introduced, the bal-
ance consumed as dissipated heat and pollution. A business this
inefficient would soon fail.
The truth is that our techno-mechanical economic system is cre-
ated by vested interests that consume energy through the massive
exploitation of non-renewable resources. It must be clear that the
ultimately such unsustainable technology can produce only eco-
nomic collapse, social chaos and environmental deterioration. The
disorder and decay that we are witnessing come from our depend-
ence on an energy system that is self-destructive. In this system, an
investment of $100 produces $13, which in turn would produce only
S1.69.^7
Energy defines quality
Convinced that we are the pinnacle of life on the Earth, we humans
are actually destroying the very basis of creativity on the planet. It
is the diversity of Nature that supports our place in the biosphere.
The ongoing extraction of oil, coal and other minerals, deforesta-
tion, overfishing, and the continual loss of animal and plant species
threaten our very existence. It is well accepted that only inferior
- ENERGY PRODUCTION