Ecoblogi – A Blog by Daniel Elkama

Humanity is here to stay. When thinking about sustainable development, we cannot observe on a time scale of tens or hundreds of years, but rather we are talking about millions and hundreds of millions of years. Our energy system, the recycling of materials and the green transition must be such that they last for hundreds of millions of years. It is clear that the entire socio-ecological system of the Earth must be brought into the scope of the circular economy, because our planet is finite, otherwise raw materials will run out and the environment will be polluted and ruined forever. The world will become a deserted landfill.

Giving up fossil fuels is a lifeline for humanity, the other option is the destruction of the current human society and most of nature. Fossil fuels can only be given up by switching to completely renewable energy, mainly based on weather phenomena, as well as hydrogen technology and electric transport.

Nuclear power will not solve the climate crisis. Uranium and thorium will not even last for decades, when we have to think millions of years ahead. Sooner or later, however, we will have to switch completely to renewable energy. Nuclear power is modern colonialism and uranium mines pollute the human environment. Nuclear waste is almost eternal, and there is no technology to shorten this time. Thorium is equally problematic. Fusion power is not yet in sight. It also involves radiation and accident risks.

Biocombustion is the destruction of nature. Already now, humanity uses half of the biomass produced annually. If the world were to increase biofuels, the world’s forests and nature would disappear quickly. There is currently far too little biomass on the Earth, humans have consumed half of the Earth’s living nature, biomass. The biosphere is only a thin layer on the Earth’s surface, it cannot be destroyed any more.

When we consider sustainable development on a time scale of millions of years, the only right solution is to switch to circular, seasonally recurring renewable energy sources based on natural forces, especially wind power and solar power. According to research, wind and solar power will be the cheapest ways to generate electricity in the 2040s. They can be easily utilized everywhere globally. Renewable energy is available almost unlimitedly, even when we learn how to build solar power plants in space. The energy capacity of the sun is almost endless from the Earth’s perspective. Experiments have already succeeded in transferring electricity to the ground from solar panels in space using microwaves. Nikola Tesla’s ideas about large-scale wireless electricity transmission are only a matter of time. When humanity has unlimited energy at its recycling, a circular economy and the complete circulation of all materials are also easy to implement. When there is unlimited energy at its disposal, everything from concrete to asphalt can be returned to its original chemical state by heating. The use of renewables does not increase the Earth’s energy and temperature, because the same energy is already in the natural phenomena, such as wind, that are utilized. So there will be no additional energy.

In 1964, the Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev published his scale (the Kardashev scale) measuring the development of a civilization in terms of its ability to use energy.

Type I: a civilization that can control the energy of a single planet

Type II: a civilization that can control the energy of a single star

Type III: a civilization that can control the energy of a single galaxy

Achieving these new levels would require, for example, the use of space solar power plants, gravity, black holes or antimatter for energy production. This energy would also enable interstellar space travel, which humanity will likely need to survive. This is not impossible. We have millions of years to create a perfectly sustainable and super-productive energy system, as long as we first overcome this current environmental and climate crisis that could plunge the entire world into destruction. The future of humanity is not written in stone, nor is humanity doomed. Life often finds ways. Humans are inventive. Our most valuable assets are science and people’s ability to collaborate.