—THEY ARE CONNECTED, AND THERE IS A SOLUTION
The future seems so hopeless.
Most jobs are being filled by computers and robots or are being sent overseas where wages are low. Worse, there seems to be no way to reverse this process.
The energy we use the most, oil and natural gas, is running out. The best projections show that the peak in the production curve will be reached in the 2015 –
2020 time frame, while the consumption curve will continue to climb as India and China increase their imports. Worse still, fertilizer, which is made from natural gas, will become scarce in the same time frame. The U.S. and China are replacing their oil plants with coal plants, but replacing oil and gas with coal would only increase carbon dioxide emissions, and thus increase climate change. Most estimates talk of replacing 10 – 15% of oil and gas usage at best using alternate energy sources. Solar cell production is limited, so the peak of the oil and gas curves will be reached long before solar could replace oil and gas. Wind farms are limited by windy areas. Note that solar cells only operate in the day, so suitable energy storage procedures must be worked out and enormous areas would be needed to provide significant amounts of energy. Solar thermal units can provide energy storage for night operation, but double the already huge area used now would be necessary to provide significant amounts of energy. Thus, the peak of the oil and gas curve would be reached long before significant amounts of solar could be brought on line. Again, 10% to 15% of oil and gas replacement is all that appears feasible. In addition, wind and solar plants are 5 to 10 times as expensive as coal and oil and gas, so government subsidies would be required. Fuel from crops, such as corn, soybeans, wood and algae has been suggested, but the huge area and fertilizer required limits its utility to the 10% to 15% range. It appears that nuclear energy is the only option that has the proper cost and availability, but many people fear that it is not safe enough. And it is not suitable for the portable applications currently filled by gas and diesel engines such as cars and trucks.
Fresh water and land for farming are also running out. The Yellow river in China has essentially no flow into the ocean in late summer. The same is true of the Colorado river in the U.S. Other important rivers in the world are suffering the same fate. More and more farmland is being lost to desertification, salinization, and humus loss from the soil. Even more productive land will be lost as global warming changes world weather patterns.
Finally, the increasing carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is raising the average world temperature and changing the earth’s weather patterns. Some believe that the world temperature and weather are not changing, but no one can deny that the polar ice caps and the high mountain glaciers are melting. Furthermore, the world desert zones are moving toward the poles. Also, the sea level is rising due to the ice cap and glacier melt water. In fact, unless the current trend is halted, most of Florida, Bangladesh, Netherlands, and many other low lying coastal zones will sink beneath the world’s oceans.
But in fact, our future shows great promise if we choose our actions wisely.
To find jobs for the new generation of workers, we must work out a whole new industry that is resistant to computer and robot replacement and off-shoring. The most obvious product that would require a large work force is pollution-free energy. It appears to be feasible to generate pollution-free energy in such a manner that the workers are irreplaceable. This generation method gives competitively priced energy, and can use workers with relatively low skill levels.
This energy is basically solar, but the energy is obtained on the ocean in the form of wind and waves. The ocean has kindly concentrated the solar energy in the form of wind and waves in the trade wind and storm zones. The power generated per unit area is much larger than that required for solar cells, so it is much cheaper to harvest there. A little calculation shows that the high-energy part of the ocean is capable of carrying 200 million vessels capable of harvesting this energy. Also these vessels are capable of producing enough energy to cover the needs of the planet-pollution free at a cost competitive with oil and gas generators. Note that small vessels (60 – 100 feet / 18 – 30 meters) are used for this purpose because larger vessels would interfere with themselves and thus be less efficient in harvesting the energy. For this reason, a large number of vessels and thus jobs will be required to fill the need. Also, off-shoring is clearly not an issue. Finally, when the high energy zones move, the vessels can move to find them, so efficiency is maximized.
Fresh water and food can be found on the ocean if the vessels gathering energy are equipped with desalinization and hydroponic equipment for food and water. This unburdens the land so it can heal from its current overburdened condition.
Finally, carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere to stop climate change in several ways if energy can be obtained without generating more carbon dioxide and if a safe and secure place can be found to store it. For those who live on the ocean, it all works out fine. Energy is obtained from wind and waves, so no carbon. Carbon dioxide can be frozen out of the atmosphere as dry ice, wrapped, and sunk in the deep ocean. Once it is below the thermocline, it takes thousands of years to re-surface even if it escapes the packaging.
Note that vessels are a large capital expense, but energy earnings can pay for the cost if loans can be arranged. For poor people who cannot obtain credit, however, it is possible to obtain credit through an immigration fund. Aquater 2050 is setting aside a portion of its Internet income to establish and maintain this fund.
Although our future may seem hopeless, but in reality it shows great promise if we choose our current actions wisely. To see what we can do to achieve this promise, become a member of www.Aquater2050.com.