Naam on “Growth on a Finite Planet”

http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/10469

The sun strikes the earth with as much energy in 14 and a half seconds as all of human society consumes in a day. In 88 minutes it provides as much energy as humanity uses, from all sources, in a year. Our world is home to a thousand times more water than humans tap into, mineral deposits that stagger our needs, and enough arable land to grow food for tens of billions. Yet climate change, peak oil, peak water, and global poverty and hunger are real. In the midst of abundance we face crisis of scarcity. How do we reconcile these facts? How do we create a path forward that taps into our world’s natural abundance in a sustainable way, rather than slipping into a downward spiral of scarcity? Ramez Naam, author of More Than Human, demonstrates that knowledge is the ultimate human resource, and that properly directed innovation can tap into our world’s vast resources while at the same time reducing the negative impact we have on the environment. With the right incentives and right choices, we can increase the wealth, health, and wellbeing of everyone on Earth, and do so in a way that preserves our world for generations to come.

  How much solar energy could we harvest from the world’s deserts?
  How many people could the world’s arable land feed?
  How do we transition from oil before climate change or peak production force us to?
  What changes do we need to make to our economic system to solve our global problems?
  What are the limits to growth, prosperity, and population on the earth?