Population Pressure, Global Living Standards, and the Promise of Space Solar Power英文课件.ppt

Population Pressure, Global Living Standards, and the Promise of Space Solar Power John K. Strickland, Jr. Sunsat Energy Council Lunar Commerce Roundtable 2, Oct 26, 2005 What does Space Development have to do with Population Pressure and Habitat Loss ? 1. Expanding human populations occupy habitat. Relationships exist between population growth, living standards rate of personal energy use. 2. Which energy sources are large enough to power the world and “clean” enough not to “drown” it? The energy sources dispute continues. 3. How Space Development can help to provide a new, non-carbon high capacity energy source. Loss of Habitat from Population Growth The greatest environmental damage (species loss) is from loss of habitat, not pollution. The largest causes of habitat loss are population pressure (taking wild areas for growing food living space), logging. Poor populations have no time or energy to think about conservation when they are struggling to survive and feed themselves. How to reduce Population Growth? The existing way: it is called “Raising the Standard of Living”! Population growth slows rapidly when living standards improve. In Europe, several countries would have a Negative population growth rate if there were no immigration. First step for this is cheap, abundant energy Increase in Energy Use Rate / Person- About 10 times since Middle Ages Correlation of Per Capita Energy Use with Birth Rates THE FUNDAMENTAL SOURCES OF ENERGY: Carbon Fuels: (derived from Solar Energy) Fission and Fusion: (Nuclear Energy) Dynamic: Hydroelectric, Wind, (derived from Solar energy) Solar Energy (nuclear fusion in Sun’s core) Tidal Power: (Gravitational Drag) Geothermal: (Primordial heat of Accretion and radioactive decay inside Earth) Limitations on Energy Use Lack of local energy resource(s) High cost or no money to purchase Lack of distribution system government Regulations Opposition by Environmentalists / Nimby’s disasters and disruptions We