Mobutobe

Mobutobe. It is mostly a joke, I think, but stimulating for thought nevertheless.

MOBUTOBE refers to the calculations of Isaac Asimov. The biologist and author published in 1971 that there are 20 trillion (20 x 10^12) tons of live cells on earth. 10 percent of these (that is two trillion tons) are animal cells. This number has to be regarded as the maximum level, for vegetable life cannot increase in quantitiy without an increase of sunlight or a refinement of its capability to process sunlight.

The latter sounds like they got it wrong. I suppose it means that the percentage of animal cells can't get higher, as animals need to feed on vegetable cells.

Animal life is heterotrophic, it lives on plants that metabolise energy from the sun into chemical energy. Animal life cannot be increased in quantitiy without an increase of the plants it feeds on. The number of humans shall continue to increase! The earth is capable of nourishing a maximum mass of human life equalling the momentary total mass of animal life. That would be no less than 40 trillion (40 x 10^12) people. The maximum average of people living on earth for ideal MOBUTOBE population would be 80.000 people per square kilometer. Each and every square kilometer of surface would be occupied.

MOBUTOBE propagates the construction of a multi-story building complex spanning the whole planet!

The building complex shall be constructed like this: The roof is reserved for plant cultivation. Edible algae as well as higher plants that are manipulated so that they are esculent as a whole are cultivated there. Regular supply is easily provided. Equispaced at small intervals, pipes are mounted that transport water and plant products to the lower levels. These materials are processed into food while the water is stored in tanks on the roof. Different pipes transport manure (consisting of human excrements and manipulated remainders of corpses) up to the roof.

OK, they're kidding. We don't really want that. But at the same time, there's a point. It is possible. If we really applied the planetary resources towards supporting the maximum biomass, in particular the maximum quantity of human biomass, then one could imagine some construct like that. I don't know how they get to the 40 trillion, but, yes, that would be around 80,000 per square kilometer, if we covered the whole surface. It would look like Trantor, but it would be possible, with a lot of engineering and planning of the food chain. Makes you think. Would be a horrible idea. But it shows that as it is now we're just really bad at managing resources and understanding natural cycles, as we're messing up the place to support a mere 6 billion people, and badly at that.

Posted by Flemming at May 16, 2004 01:25 AM | TrackBack