25 Vaclav Smil Quotes for You to Enjoy

Vaclav Smil

Czechoslovakian Scientist

Born: Dec 9, 1943

Energy Every Food Live People You

Related authors: Carl Sagan Charles Darwin Galileo Galilei George Washington Carver Hippocrates Margaret Mead Marie Curie Neil deGrasse Tyson

You cannot increase the efficiency of photosynthesis. We improve the performance of farms by irrigating them and fertilizing them to provide all these nutrients. But we cannot keep on doubling the yield every two years. Moore's law doesn't apply to plants. Vaclav Smil

I'm old fashioned. I'm not one of these young guys who think they are so smart that they can prescribe what humanity ought to do. Humanity never learns any lessons. Prescriptions don't matter. We already know exactly what to do. We just don't do it. Vaclav Smil

Killing animals and eating meat have been significant components of human evolution that had a synergistic relationship with other key attributes that have made us human, with larger brains, smaller guts, bipedalism, and language. Vaclav Smil

Our increasingly electrified, electronic, and data-driven society places steadily rising demand on reliable baseload power - that is, on electricity available 24/7/365. Servers never sleep, nor does air conditioning during hot nights, and in Asia's megacities, subways and electric trains take only brief naps between midnight and 5 A.M. Vaclav Smil

Power Society Nights Increasingly Our Air Air Conditioning Reliable Steadily Rising Only Take Never Hot Between Demand Naps Does Nor Conditioning Trains Places Midnight Available Asia Electric Electricity Electrified Electronic Brief Sleep

Exceptional circumstances can accelerate the gradual process of energy transitions: France's decision to develop nuclear energy on a grand scale is perhaps the best example of how that can be done by government fiat. In contrast, America's accelerated shift from coal has been driven by an inevitable embrace of cheaper natural gas. Vaclav Smil

Government Best Natural Decision Example Inevitable Energy France Circumstances Scale Has-Been Embrace Exceptional Driven Develop Cheaper Perhaps Accelerate How Shift Been Contrast America Gradual Done Fiat Process Grand Natural Gas Transitions Coal Nuclear Nuclear Energy Gas

This is the question I'm asking: Do Americans live twice as long because they consume twice as much energy as Europeans? Are you people twice as smart as the average Frenchman? Do you enjoy life twice as much as the average Danish guy? What have we gotten for consuming twice as much energy as Europe? What have we gotten in return? Vaclav Smil

Life You People Smart Enjoy Life Long Energy Live Enjoy Danish Guy Consume Consuming Return Frenchman Because Gotten Question American Average Much Asking Europe Europeans Twice

Evolution has made us omnivores, and substantial quantities of meat can be produced by feeding plant matter whose production does not directly compete with growing food crops: crop residues, food processing waste, low-quality grain, and controlled grazing by ruminants. Vaclav Smil

Food Matter Plant Made Evolution Crop Crops Directly Feeding Quantities Does Controlled Substantial Grain Processing Us Produced Production Meat Growing Whose Waste Compete Grazing

Some countries that grow lots of pork, like Denmark and the Netherlands, are either eliminating antibiotics or reducing them. We have to do that. Otherwise we'll create such antibiotic resistance, it will be just terrible. Vaclav Smil

Will Otherwise Some Netherlands Countries Like Terrible Reducing Denmark Lots Antibiotics Just Either Them Create Grow Pork Resistance

I live in a province where we have the cheapest electricity in North America - indeed, in the Western world - but all of it is perfectly renewable because we have beautiful Manitoba Hydro. Every few tens of kilometers, we can put a river dam. Bingo. One gigawatt here. One gigawatt here. Vaclav Smil

Beautiful World Few Live Every Indeed River Put Cheapest Tens Perfectly Renewable Because Province Western Western World North North America America Where Electricity Bingo Here Dam

Mass adoption of renewable energies would thus necessitate a fundamental reshaping of modern energy infrastructures. Vaclav Smil

Energy Would Adoption Thus Mass Renewable Modern Energies Fundamental

I appreciate and love blue-green algae. Vaclav Smil

Love Appreciate

I wouldn't put a big trust in what people in Silicon Valley say. They may be good at manipulating ones and zeroes and writing software, but beyond that, their contribution to human progress has been pretty dismal. I'm not impressed. Vaclav Smil

Good Trust People Writing Progress Big Software Valley Say Has-Been Silicon Silicon Valley Pretty Put Beyond Been Impressed Contribution May Human Manipulating Dismal Human Progress

All I want is to be left alone to write my books. Vaclav Smil

Alone Books Write Left Want

Most of the energy in North America is just consuming - Wal-Mart, shopping centres, government offices - or personal consumption: houses, cars, flying to Hawaii, gambling in Las Vegas. We could live affluent lifestyles with half as much energy. Vaclav Smil

Government Shopping Car Half Energy Live Flying Hawaii Could Lifestyles Vegas Consuming Consumption Most Houses Wal-Mart North Affluent North America America Offices Personal Just Much Gambling Las Vegas

America tends to assume Silicon Valley-style innovators can drive quick and transformative changes, but even Silicon Valley's would-be masters of the universe have discovered that energy transitions are subject to time spans and technical constraints that defy their reach. Vaclav Smil

Time Drive Energy Universe Assume Changes Innovators Valley Defy Would-Be Silicon Constraints Tends Reach Masters Discovered Subject Quick America Transformative Spans Transitions Even Technical

Canadians are hardly assertive or demanding. We don't expect U.S. presidents to bow down to our prime ministers when they visit us in Ottawa, nor are we looking for the occasional kickback on an F-16 deal. Vaclav Smil

Demanding Looking Down Ottawa Our Presidents Visit Ministers Prime Prime Ministers Bow Occasional Deal Nor Expect Canadians Us Assertive Hardly

U.S. industries from steel-making to plastics synthesis are among the world's most energy-efficient; American agriculture is highly productive, as are America's railroads. But for decades, Americans themselves have been living beyond their means, wasting energy in their houses and cars and amassing energy-intensive throwaway products on credit. Vaclav Smil

World Agriculture Car Energy Living Synthesis Highly Beyond Most Industries Houses Been Decades America American Themselves Means Productive Products Railroads Among Credit Wasting

There is no doubt that human evolution has been linked to meat in many fundamental ways. Our digestive tract is not one of obligatory herbivores; our enzymes evolved to digest meat, whose consumption aided higher encephalization and better physical growth. Vaclav Smil

Better Doubt Digest Aided Digestive Our Ways Evolution Has-Been Evolved No Doubt Physical Obligatory Higher Consumption Tract Been Linked Human Human Evolution Meat Many Whose Fundamental Growth

Meat consumption is a part of our evolutionary heritage; meat production has been a major component of modern food systems. Carnivory should remain, within limits, an important component of a civilization that finally must learn how to maintain the integrity of its only biosphere. Vaclav Smil

Food Integrity Important Heritage Our Finally Evolutionary Has-Been Systems Must Component Only Civilization Remain Part Consumption Maintain Major Learn Within How Limits Been Modern Should Production Meat

Vaclav Smil Quotes

No more Vaclav Smil quotes