The Need for a Moon Shot

[KingM34]

The history of mankind could easily be correlated with a history of man's ability to capture and harness energy. Tools of any kind, after all, are nothing but a way for humans to multiply the brute strength delivered by their muscles. Most periods of explosive growth in human culture and population correspond strongly with our ability to utilize animal power, fire, the plow, steam engines, and other force multipliers, each one more powerful than the previous iteration.

It is no surprise, then, that the explosion of everything modern during the last two centuries comes about largely because of our discovery of fossil fuels and the creation of machines to squeeze energy from them. Since the invention of the steam engine in the 18th Century, we have consumed this endowment from the earth at ever more frantic rates until now we are facing a crisis as we come face to face with depletion of fossil fuels.

It’s premature to say that the age of fossil fuels is coming to an end. Even though oil is likely to grow relatively scarce compared to demand, there’s still going to be a whole lot of it sloshing around during the 21st Century. Natural gas and especially coal are likely to take up the slack, being burned outright or converted to liquid fuels as a petroleum replacement. With energy demand all but assured to increase in step with economic and population growth, even coal, the most abundant of these fuels, will become scarce before the end of the century, and possibly much sooner.

Read the rest here: http://theopinionator.com/energy/moonshot1.html