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Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet

2021

  * Author(s): Murphy, Thomas W, Jr
  * et al.

Published Web Location

https://doi.org/10.21221/S2978-0-578-86717-5
The data associated with this publication are in the supplemental
files.
 
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Abstract

Note: a two-side version optimized for printing is available in
Supplemental Materials.

Where is humanity going? How realistic is a future of fusion and
space colonies? What constraints are imposed by physics, by resource
availability, and by human psychology?  Are default expectations
grounded in reality?

This textbook, written for a general-education audience, aims to
address these questions without either the hype or the indifference
typical of many books.  The message throughout is that humanity faces
a broad sweep of foundational problems as we inevitably transition
away from fossil fuels and confront planetary limits in a host of
unprecedented ways--a shift whose scale and probable rapidity offers
little historical guidance.

Salvaging a decent future requires keen awareness, quantitative
assessment, deliberate preventive action, and--above all--recognition
that prevailing assumptions about human identity and destiny have
been cruelly misshapen by the profoundly unsustainable trajectory of
the last 150 years.  The goal is to shake off unfounded and
unexamined expectations, while elucidating the relevant physics and
encouraging greater facility in quantitative reasoning.

After addressing limits to growth, population dynamics, uncooperative
space environments, and the current fossil underpinnings of modern
civilization, various sources of alternative energy are considered in
detail-- assessing how they stack up against each other, and which
show the greatest potential.  Following this is an exploration of
systemic human impediments to effective and timely responses, capped
by guidelines for individual adaptations resulting in reduced energy
and material demands on the planet's groaning capacity. Appendices
provide refreshers on math and chemistry, as well as supplementary
material of potential interest relating to cosmology, electric
transportation, and an evolutionary perspective on humanity's place
in nature.

Corrections and feedback can be left at https://
tmurphy.physics.ucsd.edu/energy-text/

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Book

  * Energy on a Finite Planet
  * Preface: Before Taking the Plunge
  * How to Use This Book
  * Contents
  * Setting the Stage: Growth and Limitations
  * Energy and Fossil Fuels
  * Alternative Energy
  * Going Forward
  * Appendices
  * Bibliography
  * Notation
  * Glossary
  * Alphabetical Index

  * Supplemental Material
  * Metrics
  * Author & Book Info

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