Search the Community

A topic I first came across yesterday(!) But fits in with some of the energy and power detail I've been reading on forgotten languages website. And also ( I believe) a key part of where and why those in control are moving our planet away from fossil fuels. Just wiki entry for now as I try to find out more. The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy they are able to use. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964.[1] The scale has three designated categories: A Type I civilization, also called a planetary civilization—can use and store all of the energy available on its planet. A Type II civilization, also called a stellar civilization—can use and control energy at the scale of its planetary system. A Type III civilization, also called a galactic civilization—can control energy at the scale of its entire host galaxy. Energy consumption estimated in three types of civilizations defined by Kardashev scale DefinitionEdit In 1964, Kardashev defined three levels of civilizations, based on the order of magnitude of power available to them: Type I Technological level of a civilization that is "close to the level presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈4×1019 erg/sec" (4×1012 watts).[1] Currently, the civilization of Type I is usually defined as one that can harness all the energy that falls on a planet from its parent star (for Earth–Sun system, this value is close to 1.74×1017 watts), which is about four orders of magnitude higher than the amount presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈2×1013 watts. The astronomer Guillermo A. Lemarchand stated this as a level near contemporary terrestrial civilization with an energy capability equivalent to the solar insolation on Earth, between 1016 and 1017 watts.[2] Type II A civilization capable of harnessing the energy radiated by its own star—for example, the stage of successful construction of a Dyson sphere—with energy consumption at ≈4×1033 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization capable of using and channeling the entire radiation output of its star. The energy use would then be comparable to the luminosity of the Sun, about 4×1033 erg/sec (4×1026 watts).[2] Type III A civilization in possession of energy at the scale of its own galaxy, with energy consumption at ≈4×1044 erg/sec.[1] Lemarchand stated this as a civilization with access to the power comparable to the luminosity of the entire Milky Way galaxy, about 4×1044 erg/sec (4×1037 watts).[2] Kardashev believed that a Type 4 civilization was impossible, so he did not go past Type 3. However, new types (0, IV, V, VI) have been proposed. Current status of human civilizationEdit Total World, Annual Primary Energy Consumption. According to the astronomer Carl Sagan, humanity is currently going through a phase of technical adolescence, "typical of a civilization about to integrate the type I Kardashev scale." Further information: World energy consumption At the current time, humanity has not yet reached Type 1 civilization status. Physicist and futurist Michio Kaku suggested that, if humans increase their energy consumption at an average rate of 3 percent each year, they may attain Type I status in 100–200 years, Type II status in a few thousand years, and Type III status in 100,000 to a million years.[3] Carl Sagan suggested defining intermediate values (not considered in Kardashev's original scale) by interpolating and extrapolating the values given above for types I (1016 W), II (1026 W) and III (1036 W), which would produce the formula {\displaystyle K={\frac {\log _{10}P-6}{10}}}, where value K is a civilization's Kardashev rating and P is the power it uses, in watts. Using this extrapolation, a "Type 0" civilization, not defined by Kardashev, would control about 1 MW of power, and humanity's civilization type as of 1973 was about 0.7 (apparently using 10 terawatts (TW) as the value for 1970s humanity).[4] In 2018, the total world energy consumption was 13864.9 Mtoe (161,249 TWh),[5] equivalent to an average power consumption of 18.40 TW or 0.73 on Sagan's interpolated Kardashev scale.