---
title: "Cultural Biogeochemical Energy"
description: "Vernadsky's name for the second form of biogeochemical energy: where ordinary biogeochemical energy is the free energy living matter creates through reproduction, respiration and nutrition (a fixed…"
type: "glossary-term"
canonical_url: "https://antikythera.wiki/terms/cultural-biogeochemical-energy"
md_url: "https://antikythera.wiki/md/terms/cultural-biogeochemical-energy"
last_updated: "2026-09-06"
site: "Antikythera Wiki"
---

# Cultural Biogeochemical Energy

> A working definition written for this wiki from the reading notes; not Antikythera's own wording. From Antikythera Wiki (https://antikythera.wiki/terms/cultural-biogeochemical-energy), an independent guide to Antikythera's published work.

Vernadsky's name for the second form of biogeochemical energy: where ordinary biogeochemical energy is the free energy living matter creates through reproduction, respiration and nutrition (a fixed "species characteristic"), cultural biogeochemical energy is the energy of human societies directed by reason — present in trace form in any organism with a nervous system (habitat-building, displacing other organisms), but in humans a *growing* quantity tied to social organization and above all scientific knowledge. It now exceeds ordinary biogeochemical energy in the migration of atoms it drives, and it is what "creates at the present time the noösphere." The Long L and Infinity Mirror reuse the term verbatim as the engine of the technosphere/planetary intelligence.

## Appears in

- [The Long L](https://antikythera.wiki/work/journal/longl) (2025-11-21)
- [The Transition from the Biosphere to the Noösphere](https://antikythera.wiki/work/journal/noosphere) (2025-05-10)
- [Infinity Mirror](https://antikythera.wiki/work/journal/infinitymirror) (2025-05-10)

_Glossary generated 2026-09-06._