What's the highest population the Earth could possibly sustain?

Suppose that we pare down human consumption to a minimum survivable level across the Earth, and devote the entire surface of the planet (as well as the planet's interior, if needed) to support as many human beings as possible. We ignore the damage we are doing to the environment except to the degree to which it may influence how many people we can fit on Earth. How many people could the Earth possibly sustain, using only technology which will be available in the near-future?

Assumptions as to what will be available in the near future:

• We have fusion power
• We do not have a space elevator
• Growing food in space is prohibitively expensive

We have colonies on nearby planets and on the moon, but transport through space is too expensive for us to use extraterrestrial farms to provide food for our Earthlings. Under these conditions, what is the maximum possible population which the Earth could sustain?

posted over 9 years ago

ckersch‭

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