Inverting sustainable development? Rethinking ecology, innovation and spatial limits
(2007) In International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development 6(3). p.273-289- Abstract
- Over the years, two strands of thought on Sustainable Development (SD) have emerged, often identified as ecologism and environmentalism, respectively. This paper suggests that there exists a third rhetorically excluded option, namely large-scale industrial expansion into space. Access to raw materials found on the Moon as well as unfiltered solar energy would dramatically increase the stock of resources and energy while providing unlimited sinks for pollutants; thus satisfying two of the determining factors of sustainability. Traditionally, the dilemma of resource scarcity has been a concern for environmentalists calling for a reduction of energy and material flows. Correspondingly, the promise of space exploration has been limited to... (More)
- Over the years, two strands of thought on Sustainable Development (SD) have emerged, often identified as ecologism and environmentalism, respectively. This paper suggests that there exists a third rhetorically excluded option, namely large-scale industrial expansion into space. Access to raw materials found on the Moon as well as unfiltered solar energy would dramatically increase the stock of resources and energy while providing unlimited sinks for pollutants; thus satisfying two of the determining factors of sustainability. Traditionally, the dilemma of resource scarcity has been a concern for environmentalists calling for a reduction of energy and material flows. Correspondingly, the promise of space exploration has been limited to technological optimists whose economic framework rarely acknowledges any such scarcity. By reconciling the politics of scarcity with technological optimism, this paper proposes a unifying political vision for the 21st century. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/620987
- author
- Karlsson, Rasmus LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- space policy, future studies, the precautionary principle, SD, sustainable development
- in
- International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development
- volume
- 6
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 273 - 289
- publisher
- Inderscience Publishers
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:43749124843
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d152899a-4e23-4577-b1ed-f19d9d04a003 (old id 620987)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:38:17
- date last changed
- 2022-03-23 17:53:58
@article{d152899a-4e23-4577-b1ed-f19d9d04a003,
abstract = {{Over the years, two strands of thought on Sustainable Development (SD) have emerged, often identified as ecologism and environmentalism, respectively. This paper suggests that there exists a third rhetorically excluded option, namely large-scale industrial expansion into space. Access to raw materials found on the Moon as well as unfiltered solar energy would dramatically increase the stock of resources and energy while providing unlimited sinks for pollutants; thus satisfying two of the determining factors of sustainability. Traditionally, the dilemma of resource scarcity has been a concern for environmentalists calling for a reduction of energy and material flows. Correspondingly, the promise of space exploration has been limited to technological optimists whose economic framework rarely acknowledges any such scarcity. By reconciling the politics of scarcity with technological optimism, this paper proposes a unifying political vision for the 21st century.}},
author = {{Karlsson, Rasmus}},
keywords = {{space policy; future studies; the precautionary principle; SD; sustainable development}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{273--289}},
publisher = {{Inderscience Publishers}},
series = {{International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development}},
title = {{Inverting sustainable development? Rethinking ecology, innovation and spatial limits}},
volume = {{6}},
year = {{2007}},
}