How to get to 10 trillion people in this solar system?

Selvaraj,

I have no doubt that a certain amount of recycling will be the normal state
of affairs in all habitats, some things will just be easier and cheaper to
recycle. The thing is I have seen some people who take the need for 100% or
as near as possible to 100% recycling as an absolute given but the problem
is 100% isn't possible to start with and while getting to, say 90% (and I am
just pulling numbers out of thin air here, there may be near the truth or
not anywhere near it) may be cheap, the next 5% may cost as much as the 90%
before it and the next 4% may cost as much again and the next .5% the same
cost and the next .25% ..... And so on, my point being that to a certain
point, not 100%, it is cost effective to recycle but then the final few
percent, however much it is, will get more and more expensive as you push
towards 100% but never getting to it. This means that they will need a
stored reserve of some kind and a continuing input of new material to make
up for the inevitable losses. With a mature space civilisation you might,
one would hope certainly, have trade between habitats. This trade might be
just virtual, in the form of information or it might be actual in the form
of raw materials or finished goods. The movement of goods would be dependant
on the demand, the cost and duration of transport, perhaps even to exchange
rate, come to that, is there an exchange rate? If habitats are isolated and
far apart, there will be little or no actual trade between them, however if
there lots of them or they are near to each other, then actual trade is a
good likelihood. If you are shipping good to other habitats or Earth or who
know where, then you are going to have to replace the material that goes
out.
Bottom line, I can see recycling being a normal part of life in a habitat
but only to the point where it cost effective. Topping up the habitats
reserves will also be a normal part of operations with asteroid/comet mines
providing the raw materials.

Darren

On 9/6/06 2:09 AM, "sraj" wrote: