
Thermodynamic limitations to nuclear energy deployment as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology - auferstehung
http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=17358
======
xirium
If we keep increasing energy consumption then it is possible that we could
make ourselves extinct. There was an article in the New Scientist about the
WBE equation ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_theory_of_ecology> ).
Essentially, increased energy consumption increases lifespan and delays
lifestyle choices but doesn't increase fertility. An example is that the birth
rate of industrialised countries is vastly lower than unindustrialised
countries. In North America, it has reached a situation where the population
doesn't sustain itself. In parts of Europe where the population is not
sustaining, some governments offer financial incentives in a futile attempt to
fix the situation.

Shell geologist, M King Hubbert's originial 1956 paper on peak oil (
<http://www.hubbertpeak.com/hubbert/1956/1956.pdf> ) foresaw a bootstrap from
fossil fuel to uranium reactors to thorium breeder reactors. However, it
doesn't offer any help regarding energy consumption per head or the
dissipation of that energy.

