Aquater Paper No. 0
The Problems
This is a critical time for humans on earth. Specifically:
- We are polluting the air and changing the climate.
- We are running out of the energy we use the most (oil and gas)
- We are running out of jobs for the coming generation.
- We are gradually using up our retirement funds (social security, for example), so workers cannot count on being able to retire as planned.
- We are running out of fresh water and land to grow food on.
The Evidence
The evidence for these problems is strong and growing stronger. It will be detailed in the following six papers (posted as blogs posts)
Is Action Required?
There is an argument on how much can and should be done for each problem. These problems have such severe consequences, however, and impact so heavily on our lives and planet livability, that we cannot ignore them. Something must be done for each of the above problems. The need for action is given in the six papers mentioned above.
The Solution
There appear to be two potential solutions that can impact these problems that have a high probability of success.
- Deep thermal wells for green energy and carbon dioxide sequestration.
- Ocean based energy harvesting from wind, waves and sun and carbon dioxide sequestration using part of this energy.
These two solutions are primarily in the field of energy production. If these solutions can be brought on line, however, they cascade through the world’s economy in such a way as to provide partial and possibly even total solutions to all five problems. This is because plentiful energy is the key to all of these problems. How this happens is described in six papers (blog posts).
Conclusions
Our civilization is facing five major problems that threaten to disrupt our future progress, but there are two technologies under development that appear to have the capability to improve and perhaps even solve these problems;
- Deep thermal wells
- Ocean based vessels that harvest energy from wild, waves and sun.
These technologies are primarily energy producers, but they can be designed to:
- Remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and so improve climate.
- Provide hundreds of millions of jobs.
- Provide alternative retirement procedures.
- Provide fresh water and food.
How this is done is summarized in six papers that follow (ap1 through ap6). The details of the primary technology (ocean based vessels that harvest energy) are given in the Aquater2050 site http://www.aquater2050.com.