Solar Fraction

There needs to be an easy to understand number that all of humanity is aware of, reflecting the amount of avaiable energy that people currently use. In fact, this number is so important that it should be put on the OSE Dashboard.

We call this the Solar Fraction.

It is the fraction of power that humans currently use - compared to the total available power impinging on the surface of the earth.

This starts with understanding the distinction between power and energy as well.

That number is 5000.

This number is calculated at Fraction of Available Solar Energy That Humans Currently Use‎

Implications

The implications of this number are profound. This number defines the limits of human carrying capacity - based on the assumption that ernergy enables human life. Access to energy enables the entire civilization to run. For example, we convert rocks into steel and computer chips by using energy.

The implications are both sobering and encouraging. 5000 means that there is ample available energy - if for example used by PV panels or windmills - to provide all of humanity's energy 5000 times over. That is even if we consider all the wasteful human activity on earth - such as the enormous amounts of energy to ship parts and products around the world several times before they reach a customer.

5000 is not realistic, as solar cells are 10% efficient, and run 1/4 the time, so we reduce that to only about 100x the available energy if we run the entire civilization on photovoltaics.

But that is still vastly huge.