Energy Sources for the Future

Man cannot continue to expand his numbers indefinitely. At some point in the future, his global birth rate and death rate must come into balance. This balance can be either of two kinds. It can be a statistical balance representing wide swings in the death rate, by which periods of excess of births over deaths are compensated for by periods, probably shorter and more traumatic, of excess of deaths over births. Or it can be an equilibrium balance, representing an evolutionary decline in the birth rate to meet an already low and controlled death rate. Whichever kind of balance, unstable or stable, ultimately emerges and whatever the size and distribution of the human population at that time, the level of living of that population will depend largely on the energy resources available to it. Population and standard of living are interdependent variables dependent on energy. Any attempt to discern the quality of future human society should begin with a discussion of the energy sources available to that society.