If something such as ground-based solar power were to suddenly become as efficient as fossil fuels, it could only harness as much as Earths terrain, climate, and orbital motions would allow it to. Sure, it may be clean, but what would happen when there is not enough space for solar panels to be placed without competing with the local ecosystem or human population growth? From burning fossil fuels to harnessing the clean elements of nature, all our current energy sources are still bound by one flaw: We can only take as much as the Earth can provide. Renewable or not, if there is not enough room to place a new field of winder turbines, dam, or solar array, then we simply cannot tap into the energy that we may require to keep our rapidly more technological world running. However, humanity is now entering an era where the resources of one planetary body are no longer our only option.
The Moon. Our supplier of free lighting at night and tidal forces for all of our history. But, tides and night lights are not all the moon is capable of gifting us with. The Earth’s closest celestial neighbor seems likely to play a major role and already a number of private companies have been created to explore the possibilities. It is important to stress that even now, 40 years after the Apollo missions, we still don’t have a complete picture of the Moon’s economic potential, and obtaining one will require a more rigorous programmer of lunar exploration than has been undertaken to-date. In part, this is why proposed future lunar exploration missions (such as the recently announced Lunar Mission One) are so important. Nevertheless, as a result of work over the past four decades, we do now know enough to make a first-order assessment of lunar resource potential. In doing so it is useful to distinguish between three possible future applications of such resources. We have the option of using lunar materials to facilitate continued exploration, and future economic development, of the Moon...