Space Technology: Can it Save the Planet's Environment?

So far, the effort to figure out a way for safe, sustainable development for humankind has been tied to planet Earth, but some are beginning to think not just “outside the box”, but outside the entire atmosphere. They believe that the exploitation of space could be a potential solution to the earth's environmental crisis.

Political scientist Rasmus Karlsson suggests that space could provide us with a sustainable future that is simply not possible from an earthbound-only perspective.

So far, the effort to figure out a way for safe, sustainable development for humankind has been tied to planet Earth, but some are beginning to think not just “outside the box”, but outside the entire atmosphere. They believe that the exploitation of space could be a potential solution to the earth's environmental crisis.

Political scientist Rasmus Karlsson suggests that space could provide us with a sustainable future that is simply not possible from an earthbound-only perspective.

Karlsson, a researcher at the University of Lund, Sweden, believes that over the years, two strands of thought on sustainable development have emerged. They are ecologism and environmentalism. Ecologism offers a solution by emphasizing the need for major socioeconomic reform aimed at a post-industrial era. Environmentalism, in contrast, focuses on the preservation, restoration, and improvement of the natural environment within the present framework.

However, Karlsson, suggests that there is a third approach to sustainable development that has until now been excluded from the agenda - namely a large-scale industrial expansion into space.

He suggests that access to the raw materials found on the Moon as well as unfiltered solar energy could be used to increase dramatically our stock of resources and energy while providing unlimited sinks for pollutants. Such an approach would satisfy two of the most demanding issues regarding sustainability, finding renewable energy sources and the disposal of pollutants.

Resource scarcity, pollution, and dwindling fossil fuels, have become of serious environmental concern in the last few decades. As such, environmentalists have called for massive reductions in energy and material consumption. Seemingly unrelated but running in parallel is that the promise of space exploration has been limited to technological optimists whose economic framework rarely acknowledges any such scarcity. Karlsson suggests that it is time to reconcile the politics of scarcity with this technological optimism and to devise a unified political vision for the 21st century that will lead to a truly sustainable planet by extending our reach into space.

Some worry that industrializing space would be a cop-out from finding sustainable solutions on Earth, but others believe the two can go hand in hand. As the world population grows, it seems inevitable that we will run out of space and time for creating the perfect world on just one planet. For certain, the sustainable development problem is a vast and complicated concern for which there are few easy answers. It’s also worth noting that many who criticize industrializing space are not themselves willing to give up all potentially polluting “modern” conveniences while we search for more long-term solutions.

Posted by Rebecca Sato

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Future of Space Travel—Insights from a Revolutionary Rocket Scientist
The "Hawking Solution": Will Saving Humanity Require Leaving Earth Behind?
China’s “Science-Fiction” Skyscrapers & Mega-Cities

Comments

[Emergent]

When will people realise we are not in the business of maintaining the historic situation? The planet, sun & universe are moving on and we need to embrace the change. Not try, like King Canute, to resist it. That is futile; nature is a wee bit more powerful than we humans although we have a crucial part to play (that the universe cannot do)! We are not born into a random careless creation. It is riddled with purpose and care if you have the eyes to see. Just because things are changing doesn't mean it has all gone wrong.

[Robert]

It sounds nice, but it disregards the enormous cost of getting mass to orbit. Sending pollution into space on a launch vehicle that costs upwards of tens of millions of dollars? I don't think this is the right answer.

[Zarkov]

Moon ?... NASA says its all off...
Space, where ?
Pie in the sky stuff

Earth is it for a little while longer
BUT the already happening new Ice Age will destroy all plans anyone has.

Earth, get it together NOW... there will not be a second chance.

You have all the resources you need... your problem is the abysmal mental state of the entire population... you blew it... politics over science

now all fall down.

PS the Universe will not miss you one bit.... LIFE goes on but not here

[claudio]

The scientist suggests the so called 3rd way "namely a large-scale industrial expansion into space".

Nice idea that is repeatedly supported by many and often presented-discussed in this review.

In THEORY it is possible...BUT in practice if we look around we do not see many other 'blu planets' in the solar system where the future men should go.

Shall the future men be able to develop such scientific and technology advanced solutions to migrate to new STARS ?? WE DO NOT KNOW by definition.

Shall the future men be capable of transforming stone planets and satellites into locations with an ATM ????

Rather difficult task without a strong MAG field in the core of the planet or moons suitable to deflect the solar winds-storms and deadly galactic X-Gamma rays.

BUT again we do not know how clever they will be.

Sapiens-sapiens (us modern men) are mentally evolving at fantastic and increasingly high speed.

Regards to 'sapiens sapiens' that is us...and likely future generations.

[hernadi-key]

Tips to save our environment

Did You Know??

1. Guns embed electrical plugs, although, when the electronic device is turned off = 40-50% saving of electricity costs you must pay each month. And that also, reduce the heat arising from an electronic device that spread to global warming.
So release all electrical plugs when you go or not used.

2. Plastic bags take 1000 years to decompose in the landfill (landfills). Around 300 million plastic bags were thrown away each year in Indonesia. Not to mention that dumped in the river behind the house and where they should not. 10kg paper prepared in the newspaper selling flea market, which requires 1 tree, takes 10 years to be big. Imagine what happens to illegal logging.

How many trees have been cut down for you? Imagine how they make the world hotter?
So bring own bags from home when you shop, try calculating how much you save when you plastic shopping once...?? ?

3. When you buy 1 liter of mineral water bought in supermarkets = 5 liters of water. Ask why?, Because at the factory, to cool the hot plastic bottles new printed, requires 5 liters of water.
Listing bottle what is safe to use as a bottle of water? See the sign below the bottle, look for 2.3 or 4 numbers. Number 2 than that, they're not safe, because you eat plastic!!

http://hernadi-key.blogspot.com/2009/09/tips-to-save-our-environment.html