Thanks Stavy

Hi James, I'm with Fozia - I'm an eternal optimist - I hope I'm also a pragmatist too!

Every single watt generated by energy made from sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat contributes to the aim of an eventual equilibrium between the creation and consumption of energy. Every watt each of us saves by turning down the thermostat on a heater, recycling, or changing the temperature a notch on the air-con has a positive affect - countless tiny actions have a major impact. Each of us can make a positive contribution - I know I could do better, and tomorrow I'll be that more mindful of my own energy consumption becuase of the conversation we're having here. Doing better is always possible.

Absolutely, we should continue to develop renewable energy resources, however as the global population edges towards nine billion in 2050 and the world sees a staggering increase in energy consumption, my personal view is that only Fusion developed on a large scale has the potential to meet that vast future global energy demand - safely. Fusion reactors are far, far preferable to fission reactors and have the potential to produce energy on such a scale that outweighs renewable alternatives.

The planet will go on with or without us, despite any and all the damage we do to it. Whether humans manage to survive is another matter and depends on our ability to cooperate, learn, and share resources for the greater good, despite our differences. Lunar Mission One has the potential to become part of that story, and as we work together in common discovery and exploration over the coming years I remain hopeful for our future.

James Parker wrote: I can't see it happening Mike...
This planet is becoming so over crowded, new buildings will be built, the food resource will be gone.. Forgive me for being Vulgar, But Earth is being xxx every single day, and nothing is really being done to protect it.
If we go Solar, we can protect it a little bit more.

I have to agree with that. As a species we consume pretty much everything this planet has at an alarming rate and I believe technologically we may be expanding too fast. most films/tv series/games I can think of predict the near future (next 200 years) to be extremely difficult. When you look at the likes of Blade runner, Total Recall and Elysium they all predict a dark near future from frighteningly logical reasoning. Even star trek predicts another world war that would nearly wipe us out as well of other periods of segregation, holocausts and such before they reached the point they got to in the 23rd century.

In the game world Fallout teaches you that actually were pretty lucky to be here at all. It's based on an alternate reaction to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In reality of course there was a sudden interest in nukes and all the main super powers put considerable effort into researching it and it became part of the arms race. Fallout says "what if the whole world stopped what it was doing and went MAD about nuclear energy and weapons?" and all scientific progress was diverted into nuclear weaponry. In their history it prolonged the cold war to last a hundred or so years with an enhanced arms race that halted all civil scientific progress (colour tv, personal computers, mobile phones, advanced automobiles, all that stuff was never invented) and instead by our time there would be advanced nuclear powered weaponry, complex robots built for war, laser weapons etc etc and basically the world pretty much ended with just a few survivors here and there. It might seem far fetched but actually all it would have took for that to happen is for the world leaders to take the arms race one step further than they did.

Films, games, tv shows, etc are of course just meant to be a bit of fun and they are. But they are based on quite reasonable possibilities. And I do believe these next 100-200 years are going to be a big struggle. There may be many narrow misses like the cold war to come because world leaders are just not ready for the technological progress that is to come and the mass of problems like energy, food, population and climate to name a tiny few.

But don't get me wrong I think it is something we will get through one way or another. It will be a rough ride but If something really bad does happen then actually I think in a way it would be the best thing to happen. Mistakes would truly be learned once and for all and wisdom would be found.

A bit off topic I guess. sorry.

I think we'll be ok...I hope we'll be ok
I've just turned down our thermostat...I kid you not Mike...that Fusion energy break through can't come soon enough.

Paul, Martin, James, Fozia, Stavy, Fawkes, and to all those curious folk who read this thread. As long as a place remains to exchange views, and as long as people are moved to take the time and trouble to share their thoughts as we do here, I think there is hope. For every dark-envisioned future, an alternative, more positive prospect is possible. The future is what we make it in our dreams - good or bad. The future never comes - it is only what we fear or hope may be.

Right now I have the liberty to act - I am fortunate. I have good food, water, shelter, and I'm in good health. I hear birds in the morning and live in a country that allows me to express myself freely. As I do not fight each day to survive because of conflict or through facing the hardships of poverty, I feel a responsibility to best use whatever small talent is at my disposal in the service of those things I most value. As Paul says, "I think we'll be ok... I hope we'll be ok". I remain optimistic - it is in my nature.