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Old 08-23-2020, 01:09 AM   #132
Say, it isn't that bad!
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Default Re: In which I post about a TL9 solar system

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
I am quite familiar with the above concepts, and they do not matter for the purpose of the population figures given in Space. Arcologies are not sustainable population centers, they have enormous energy requirements, with the per capita energy requirements increasing as the population density increases. In addition, certain elements vital to agriculture and technology (copper, gold, iron, phosphorus, and silver just to name a few) are already near peak production for efficiency purposes, and the energy cost to increase their production increases exponentially.

For example, you would need an energy production of around 30 PW to support 30 billion people at TL9 average income (1 MW per person). The Earth only receives 170 PW of sunlight, so you would either need to blanket most og the world with solar panels to generate 30 PW or you need to add to the energy budget with fusion, orbital solar, etc. Either way, you dramatically alter the environment of the Earth. It actually becomes cheaper and more efficient to move people off the Earth, even with realistic technology, than to turn the Earth into a world city.
Or you could plaster the roof of your city planet with green space, and the trivial energy costs (the few thousand kW/day that a 3-5 person house requires) can be supplied with fusion power.
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In which I post about a TL9-10 solar system

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=169674

If you don't know why I said something, please ask. Assumptions are the death of courtesy.

Disappointed in the behaviour I have too-often encountered here.
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