Journal Marxist Hacker 42's Journal: What is the maximum population of Coruscant Earth? 9
Assume a "Coruscant Earth"- an Earth where *all* potential space is used, both land and sea, for a combination of food production and living space. Use the Permaculture formula of one acre per person of absorbed sunlight, with 100% conversion to whatever mass/energy combination we need to create food and energy of one person to live.
Earth is about 510,000,000 km^2. There are 247 acres in a square kilometer. This yields (with much better technology than we currently have, of course) a maximum population of 125.97 billion people, each owning one acre.
Of course various contracts would increase efficiency and there'd be the normal range of capitalism creating rich and poor in the long run, but at least there'd be an agreed upon base lifestyle- even if it's only a kayak with a net anchored at sea or a tent on land.
How much do you want to modify the earth first? (Score:2)
Right now most of the ocean area is deep ocean which is much less productive. Basically, life mostly needs light. Areas where some light gets to the ocean floor has more life than where it is too deep. If we truly wished to maximize human life per square meter we would need to create a false ocean floor, probably around 30 meters deep. We could leave water underneath it, be we would want some kind of matrix that undersea life could live on.
Similarly, plants do not grow well above a certain altitude. W
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We're getting pretty darn good at producing artificial *light*.
In case you don't get the reference, the idea of a Coruscant is referring to a planet from Star Wars where the entire globe is one big city. I could have also chosen Trantor, but these days I can't be sure people have even heard of Isaac Asimov. Same idea, take an M-class planet, subvert its entire surface and all life to serve humans, and how big can you go?
Figure we'll get off the planet (Score:2)
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Or at the very least- have planted a few colonies for even more growth in population.
At present growth rates... (Score:1)
We will boil off the oceans in about 450 years, and in about 950 years the earth's surface will be as hot as the sun's, and in less than 2500 years we will require the energy output of the entire galaxy. Do the math... [ucsd.edu]
I would say we could all live quite comfortably with around 20 billion or so with relatively little effort, for example just good farming practices
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As long as we recapture that water and harness it for food production and for human beings, what does it matter if the oceans are gone?
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Considering where we've come with technology so far in the last 450 years? By 450 years from now we'll have found a way to convert heat directly into electricity, and that large amount of heat outside will be powering our massive yeast vats to make soylent.