Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet, 2021a

19 A Plan Might Be Welcome 317
(Box 19.1). In this context, the $100 trillion global annual economy is such
a minuscule fraction of the value of the earth. Yet reflect on the question:
which valuation drives almost all of our decisions?
Box 19.1: Earth’s Dollar Value
How much would it cost to purchase a barren planet <strong>and</strong> then to
layer atop it a complete, functioning ecosystem? 5 Starting with the
basics, the cost of rough rock, s<strong>and</strong>, or dirt in the U.S. bottoms out
at about $5 per cubic yard. 6 It is the very definition of “dirt cheap.”
We’ll upgrade the volume to a cubic meter 7 for ease. The earth is
roughly 10 21 cubic meters in volume, so even if given a smoking
deal on the materials at $1 per cubic meter, the price tag is in the
sextillion dollar regime ($10 21 ). The high central density of the earth
makes the price tag even higher under the more sensible cost per
ton, 8 considering the 6 sextillion ton mass of the earth. This is an
admittedly naïve way to price a planet, but it puts a scale on things.
5: . . . actually many connected ecosystems
6: ...notincluding delivery
7: ...would cost 30% more, but we’ll ignore
this small adjustment
8: ...ratherthanbyvolume
A similarly simple calculation applies to minerals. Ignoring the
material in the molten mantle, using crustal abundances <strong>and</strong> only
the stuff in the 30 km crust under dry l<strong>and</strong>, 9 the continental crust 9: . . . just 0.4% of Earth’s volume
contains $0.6 quintillion ($0.6 × 10 18 ) of silver, $3 quintillion in gold,
$5 quintillion in copper, <strong>and</strong> $20 quintillion in nickel. 10 Aluminum 10: For instance, gold is about $60,000 per
leaps up to $2 sextillion, but probably reflects the energy-intensive
extraction process.
By these estimates, the earth is already worth something in excess
of $10 21 , <strong>and</strong> that’s before adding biology, whose billions of years of
tuning under evolution is not something we even have the skill to
replicate, let alone affix a price tag. Perhaps an evolved biology is
more valuable than the raw materials. Given all the barren planets in
the universe, an argument can be made that a biologically diverse
planet would fetch a premium price. Comparing this to the global
$10 14 budget, the economy registers at less than a millionth the worth
of the planet, yet all our decisions are made based on what is good
for the tiny flea, ignoring the essential <strong>and</strong> much larger canine host.
kilogram, <strong>and</strong> according to crustal abundances
in Table 15.9 (p. 258), gold is 4 parts
per billion of the crust by mass. The crust
in question has a volume of 4.4 × 10 18 m 3
<strong>and</strong> a mass around 1.3 × 10 22 kg. The expected
mass of gold is then about 5×10 13 kg,
<strong>and</strong> would cost $3 × 10 18 . Notice that the
total values are amazingly close for these
metals: rarer is more expensive in inverse
proportion <strong>and</strong> thus in rough balance.
As human actions on this planet close the door on one species after
another, it is important to realize that we are losing an investment of
millions upon millions of years of evolutionary fine-tuning that led
to this splendid place we call home. The human race has set about to
negligently, unwittingly destroy its home, showing essentially no regard
for its worth.
Box 19.2: Clueless Cat Analogy
In analogy, domestic cats cannot possibly comprehend why they
should not be allowed to claw the sofa. To their minds, the sofa is
© 2021 T. W. Murphy, Jr.; Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Lic.;
Freely available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/energy_ambitions.