Earth

Earth, a planet and a substance.

Earth is often listed first in the elemental groupings of earth, air, fire and water.

Earth is evolved however from other arch-elemental forms and follows, it does not lead, if viewed only in terms of the interesting forms it takes and with which we interact. 

The dust of the universe is a "what", as far as we treat with it, not, although intrinsic as it is, do we tend to conceive of it as the "how" it also is. 

Matter, behaviour, chicken, egg...

The transference of energy through matter results in complicated resonances, dances, movements, patterns, synchronies and sequences. Some are unique, some are chaotic, some are big and some are small, and all can be said to be under the auspices of quantal physics. The structures and forms that result from the behaviour of matter reacting with energy from fine scale to large scale are represented by all that is in the world around us and also by ourselves. The sense aimed for here is of the direct and inseparable connectedness of matter with energy. Change one and you change the other. 

As planetary conditions change, the fundamental nature and composition of materials of the Earth underlie what life can be supported and where. For populations in geographical zones tending to aridity, the growth of food and capture and retention of water depends on the nature of the earth in those zones and what happens naturally or what can be done with that earth as a material. 

Factors such as reflectivity, heat capacitance, porosity, permeability, pliability, brittleness, acidity and alkalinity are important. The earth as a growth medium then hosts increasingly entwined forms of life. From Virus, through Baterium, Mycelium, Plant, Insect and Animal or Fish, there are chains of life that come from the earth and go back into the earth. 

Sustainability of the Earth Element

Rock, or earth mass is often used in earth ships to store heat by absorption of sunlight or by passing warm air over rock piles which then act as thermal masses to give off heat at teimes when there is no warm sunlight or at night times.

Water is sometimes left in pipes at shallow underground levels to absorb solar fed heat from the surrounding ground.

Telluric or ground currents have been researched for many years to find viable methods of extracting electricity from the ground.

The anaerobic decomposition of biomass is a method to obtain gas for heating as well s compost for agricultural or gardening uses.

Burning carbon based materials such as wood, peat, coal or petro-chemicals is a direct method of getting heat for heating, cooking, travel or for powering other processes.

Minerals extracted from the ground are a huge method, that is fundamentally not sustainable but condoned as being practical. The problems of pollution which have arisen as a result of mineral extraction now evermore demand attention and a rebasing and rebranding as to what is practical in the medium to long term for life on the planet.