How will we ultimatately solve our fixed resources problem?

Question

Since population is increasing daily and all resources on our planet are fixed, ultimately consumption of all resources is inevitable. Of course even if we resort to living a simple life and consuming less oil (or other sources of energy like coal etc.) ultimately we will use up all our natural resources. Even clean drinking water is becoming a problem (but fortunately more than 70 percent of our planet consists of water so as long as we find some technological means to convert this into drinking water we would have many more years at least to survive. However, as our population expands ultimately we will have used up most if not all of our resources. The only question is when this will happen. Can technology continously provide us the answer or will there come a time when we will just have to develop the means to go to outer space for our needs. And if so will we be able to go that far into outer space before our resources run out and leave us hanging dry.

Answer 1

For hundreds upon hundreds of millions of years, life has survived on this planet. It has survived by depending upon only renewable resources. Our present lifestyle is dependent upon non-renewable resources. Obviously, sooner or later, we will have to return to a lifestyle that does not depend upon non-renewable resources. And needless to say, this will involve a major change for our species; but for life as a whole it will merely be a return to normal after a brief disruption.

Answer 2

The simple answer is that our sun holds all of the answers. Initially soalr energy will take over as our primary energy source. A couple of examples. The US uses 8 million quads of energy a day ( a quad is a lot) while the direct solar energy striking america daily is in excess of 80 million quads. Another is that the typical huricane releases the equivalent of 5 times the energy that the entire human population use in one year. So from an energy perspective the sun is the answer and technology not controled by the oil companies will get us there. As far as other things like metals, concrete etc. we will be forced to recycle these as they become so expensive it will be profitable to recycle. Plastics will be made organically from organic fatty acids from decomposing organic mater. This is currently being done by companies like Cargil and Monsanto. Food is perhaps the most difficult but we will begin farming the oceans as the planet has so much of its surface coverd by them it will be necessary to utilize this asset. Finally population growth will need to be limitied but how is the big question. There needs to be a moral discussion on this from a provier perspective. Responsibilty for providing for your offspring needs to become a topic of normal social discussion. The word is made up of two respond with ability. People who do not have the ability to respond to the needs of offspring should be aware of their abilities and respond accordingly.This should be a choice not a forced situation but it seems it is not really discussed at all in our current society.

Answer 3

No resources are lost, they are all recycled. Even the non-biodegradable toxic waste in the landfill will eventually degrade, in a fairly short time, geologically.

So the only thing we need to worry about from the human timeframe is that we have balanced systems. For every factory turning coal and oxygen into carbon dioxide, we need an appropriate amount of plant life and algae running the cycle the other direction.

Ultimately the sun provides the energy for oxidized components to be broken apart, then we enjoy a momentary flurry of energy when we turn them back to rust.

For example, the ocean is full of 'impure' (salty) water, but a little sunlight drives the evaporation, leading to rain, of potentially pure water for our use. So long as we provide clean containers for the resulting downpour and distribution, we need never 'run out' of water. (In fact, we do run the risk of hydrogen escaping the earth's gravity well, but I claim that is minimal)

I claim the same is true of any resource. We may run out of large pools of pure hydrocarbon deposits, but we will never run out of carbon and hydrogen which can be recombined via sun power to form a storable fuel source.

Which means, of course, we could potentially run out of 50 carat diamonds as all the diamonds on the planet eventually degrade into diamond dust, so the sustainable future might not be as 'sexy' as the pre-developed planet, but even the diamonds will be back eventually. (and of course we have synthetic diamonds already)

Before our addiction to petroleum, we lit the night-time world with whales. Eventually we will use something more directly re-generatable. I vote for taking water apart and putting it back together, as the basic energy metaphor for the future. Fuel cells and solar powered electrolysis.

And there is nothing stopping us from managing forests just like corn fields. We can grow more trees. And we should.

Answer 4

The same way the Europeans in the late 15th century did - by finding new lands to explore/exploit and conquer. Hunger, pestilence, war..are great motivators for moving somewhere else. Neccessity really is the Mother of Invention.

Answer 5

The simple straight-up answer is, of course, to stop using fixed resources and start using renewable ones. But that would require community, sacrifice, patience, and responsibility - four qualities sadly lacking in today's society (and trust me, I'm no exception to that).

Answer 6

The way I look at it, God already is fixing all that, if you'll just leave Him to His job.




I am so sorry you feel like the weight of the world is on YOUR shoulders, because IT'S NOT!!

Answer 7

Each one of us should grow an english garden