How could alien civilizations provide themselves with energy? (Image credit: Coneyl Jay via Getty Images)
The burning of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—has fueled the Industrial Revolution, which has revolutionized civilization. Gasoline powers most of the cars we drive; coal and natural gas play key roles in the global energy supply. But if aliens were creating their own civilization, would they follow the same path as humanity, relying on fossil fuels to build an advanced culture? Or might they have alternative approaches?
To create a modern society, aliens might need an energy source comparable in abundance to fossil fuels, said astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell, author of “Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch” (Penguin Press, 2014). He noted that it would be difficult to completely reject the use of fossil fuels.
Dartnell drew an analogy with human history: in the 18th century, the world entered the Industrial Revolution using a seemingly inexhaustible source of energy. Coal provided a longer burn time and greater energy than wood and charcoal.
“Up until this point, energy was the main constraint on what could be done,” he said. “It limited the amount of extraction, transportation, construction and production.”
The question of whether humans could bypass fossil fuels to find alternative energy sources is “kind of a chicken-or-egg dilemma,” Dartnell told Live Science. For example, making solar panels requires silicon, and extracting and refining it requires significant energy.
The simplest way for intelligent aliens to produce fuel would be to start by burning organic matter, as humans have done, until they can move on to more sustainable energy sources. Perhaps they could harness the light of their star or the kinetic energy of the wind. However, as Dartnell noted, wind power alone would not produce the high temperatures needed to smelt, forge, and cast the metals needed for industrialization.
On the other hand, hydropower will only be effective if the planet has sufficient liquid water, which is not the case on most known planets, added astronomer Seth Shostak, director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute.
Could other planets have fossil fuels?
Scientists have yet to find a planet with high concentrations of oxygen in its atmosphere, although trace amounts have been detected on Mars, Venus, and Jupiter's moon Europa. Oxygen is an essential element for burning fossil fuels because it fuels the combustion process that releases the energy stored in coal, oil, and gas.
Fossil fuels are the remains of living organisms — the metamorphosed remains of plants and animals that existed hundreds of millions of years ago. Dartnell suggested that plate tectonics played a major role in shaping these life forms. “There are strong reasons to believe that for intelligent life to emerge on a planet like Earth, plate tectonics would have to maintain the climate for long periods,” he said.
A 2022 study by scientists at the University of Sydney has shown how Earth’s tectonic plates move carbon between the planet’s interior and its surface, creating what they call a “carbon conveyor belt.” This process is critical to maintaining Earth’s “Goldilocks” climate, making it habitable, according to the study. What’s more, plate tectonics also causes continental drift and creates conditions that allow large volumes of coal and fossil fuels to form, he added.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
