22-10-2015, 03:30 PM
The point is, humanity CANNOT stop burning carbohydrates NOW and still feed 7 billion people, let alone 12.
Even rich countries like Germany or the US could not feed their population because modern agriculture
in multiple ways depends on the energy from carbohydrates. Also heating is based to a large proportion on oil and gas.
Cutting down the remaining forests for burning would make the problem worse. Building more nuclear plants
will create more waste and increase the risk of catastrophic damage. Solar, wind and water still have a long way to go-
There is no fast solution, I fear, but we have to start walking in that direction, faster.
Meanwhile I think that a large part of the problem is one of education, social and political stability,
justice and security and fairness. Large parts of the world could be so much more productive, saving so many
resources and freeing human workforce to attack the energy problem, if only there were food and water security and
no daily threat of violence or being killed by drone, bomb, gun or machete. That, combined with
rights and opportunities for women and a working health system would also reduce the growth rate of the
human population in many developing countries or "failed states". This is what has to be done anyway,
because clearly unlimited growth is not possible. Unfortunately this is a very hard problem, one
inside the human psyche, and not many are willing to seriously make sacrifices for THIS problem.
Even rich countries like Germany or the US could not feed their population because modern agriculture
in multiple ways depends on the energy from carbohydrates. Also heating is based to a large proportion on oil and gas.
Cutting down the remaining forests for burning would make the problem worse. Building more nuclear plants
will create more waste and increase the risk of catastrophic damage. Solar, wind and water still have a long way to go-
There is no fast solution, I fear, but we have to start walking in that direction, faster.
Meanwhile I think that a large part of the problem is one of education, social and political stability,
justice and security and fairness. Large parts of the world could be so much more productive, saving so many
resources and freeing human workforce to attack the energy problem, if only there were food and water security and
no daily threat of violence or being killed by drone, bomb, gun or machete. That, combined with
rights and opportunities for women and a working health system would also reduce the growth rate of the
human population in many developing countries or "failed states". This is what has to be done anyway,
because clearly unlimited growth is not possible. Unfortunately this is a very hard problem, one
inside the human psyche, and not many are willing to seriously make sacrifices for THIS problem.
The most relevant literature regarding what happened since September 11, 2001 is George Orwell's "1984".