Space Travel Will Save the Planet

Space Travel Will Save The Planetor

Black is the new Green.

Problem: People Reproduce

There are a LOT of people.

One of people’s favorite things to do is to make more people.

Problem: People Consume

Everyone likes to be comfortable.

People don’t want to give things up.

Problem: Resources are Finite

We don’t have unlimited energy (yet)

We don’t have unlimited room.

Myth: “Sustainable Growth”

There is NO SUCH THING as global sustainable growth! We only have so much stuff! We can be sustainable, but not grow; or grow and not

be sustainable.

Population - The Original Hockey StickIt’s exponential, baby!

It’s Never Been a Problem Before…

How have we managed to grow? It hasn’t been sustainable. Technology has made it possible.

O RLY?

Our own worst enemy…

In 2005, global carbon emissions were 29 billion metric tons.

Since then, we’ve added 363 million people. That’s another 1.6 billion metric tons of carbon.

One of these every 5 years.

It gets worse…

If everyone consumed as much as the US did… Carbon emissions would be at 134 billion tons/year.

Yeah, that’s not going to work for long…

What Are Our Options?

Decrease consumption to match growth. Right, that’ll work.

Stop making more people. Doesn’t seem very

likely.

Door #3? (goat not included)

Leaving the Cradle

There’s a LOT of room in space.

There’s a LOT of energy in space.

This sounds promising…

Benefits of Space Travel

Water Filters, Smoke Detectors, Cordless Drills Lots of other technology

It’s hard to predict what will come out of an investment in space.

Could you have predicted the Internet? If so, do you want to start a company?

More Benefits

Colonies need to be sustainable. Reusing water, soil, air Energy efficient

Maybe we could use this on Earth, too? Better solar panels Better soil/water reclamation

It’s Sustainable!

Offset population growth by emigration off-planet. More resources to support a larger population Abundant energy (THE SUN!) Fewer anthropogenic environmental concerns.

Colonies, or Off-site Backup

Off-planet colonies decrease the chance of us going the way of the dinosaurs.

Even if we do something phenomenally stupid…

One small step…

We have the technology Well, some of it.

Space Stations We’ve got one already, we need more, lots more.

Rocket Ships More X-Prizes!

Robots We always need robots.

Quick Recap

We’re running out of EVERYTHING (except people) Sending ONE person into space saves 20 tons of

carbon/year. Space-related technologies are AWESOME Space exploration is sustainable

What can you do?

Tell your kids to be astronauts!