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How long can we continue to believe our energy needs can rise at the level we've become accustomed too? This is scary: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011
by jshen 13y ago
How long can we continue to believe our energy needs can rise at the level we've become accustomed too?
This is scary: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/galactic-scale-energy/ http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/galactic-scale-e...
- danbruc 13y agoThis is probably rather pointless - first normalize the energy consumption by the population. Because population growth was exponential for a long time, the energy consumption per capita was probably more or less constant. It will get very crowded way before our energy consumption starts to melt the earth.
- jshen 13y agoI think the global energy consumption per capita is rising rather quickly as other countries adopt American levels of consumption.
- sliverstorm 13y agoNo one with even a rudimentary understanding of exponential growth believes energy consumption can grow exponentially forever. But the problem is self-fixing; one day, the supply of energy will stop growing as fast as demand. The day will come, the day will pass, and the world will adjust.
- jcrites 13y agoIn particular, prices will rise gradually over time, which will encourage investment in cost-lowering research and development, as well as into energy generation. The market is what helps the world adjust. Unless a dramatic event causes a significant change in prices in a short time, things will carry on just like they always have.
- jshen 13y agoHow can an economy grow significantly if energy is capped?
- jshen 13y agoAlso, this idea that we don't have to worry about stuff because the market with help us adjust is idealistic wishful thinking at best.
- sliverstorm 13y agoWhat are you proposing is the problem? That we will foolishly bull forwards, and accidentally violate the laws of physics and consume more energy than there is?
- chii 13y agothe fear is that we would consume too much now, and not leave enough behind to facilitate the research/development needed to find/create better sources of energy. E.g., you used up the fuel in the car too fast, and can't reach the next gas station.
- jshen 13y agoHow painful will the adjustment be? Potentially very painful.
- lalc 13y agoThat is a really silly article. The author extrapolates hundreds and then thousands of years into the future.
- dasil003 13y agoI'm sure in 2400 years we'll have a Mr Fusion™ that we can chuck galaxies into for our home energy needs, so there's really no need for this kind of cynical hysteria.