What is The Kardashev Scale? --- Just Learn - Newten

The Kardashev scale is a method that measures a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy they use. Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev proposed the measure in 1964. Kardashev believed that a Type-IV civilization was impossible, so he proposed only three types. However, new types (0, 4, 5, and 6) have proposed by others.

·         A Type I (1016W) civilization, also called as Planetary Civilization - can use and store all of the energy available on its planet.

·         A Type II (1026W) civilization, also called as Stellar Civilization - can use and control energy at the scale of its planetary/solar system.

·         A Type III (1036W) civilization, also called as Galactic Civilization - can control energy at the scale of its entire host galaxy.

 

 

 

Let's Discuss briefly:

 

Type-I: Type-I civilization's Technological level is close to the level presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at 4×1012 watts (≈4×1019 erg/sec). Currently, the Type-I civilization defined as one that can harness all the energy that falls on a planet from its parent star. This energy is four times higher than the amount presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈2×1013 watts.

 

Type-II: Type II civilization capable of harnessing the all energy radiated by its parent star, with energy consumption at 4×1026 watts (≈4×1033 erg/sec) - for example, Construction of Dyson sphere around the parent star. Lemarchand stated this as a Type-II civilization capable of channelling and using the entire radiation output of its parent star. The Sun releases estimated 384.6 yotta watts (3.846 x 1026 watts) of energy in the form of light and other forms of radiation.

 

Type-III: Type III civilization in possession of energy at the scale of its galaxy, with energy consumption at ≈4×1044 erg/sec. Lemarchand stated this as a Type-III civilization with access to the power comparable to the entire Milky Way galaxy, about 4×1037 watts (4×1044 erg/sec).

 

Also Read: What is BODMAS rule & How to Calculate 

 

Current Status of Human Civilization:

 

Humanity has not reached the Type-I civilization status yet. Futurist and Physicist Michio Kaku stated that, if humanity increase their energy consumption at an average rate of 3% each year they may attain

 

·         Type-I Civilization status in the next 100 - 200 Years.

·         Type-II Civilization status in a few thousand years.

·         Type-III Civilization status in 100,000 to a million years.

 

Astronomer Carl Sagan stated that humanity is currently going through a phase of technical adolescence, "typical of a civilization about to integrate the Type-I Kardashev scale."

 

The total world energy consumption in 2018 was 13864.9 Mtoe (161,249 TWh), equivalent to the average power consumption of 18.40 TW or 0.73 on Sagan's interpolated Kardashev scale.

 

 

Type-I civilization methods:

·         The conversion of about 2 kg of matter to energy per second, theoretically be achieved by fusing approximately 280 kilograms of hydrogen into helium per second. This rate roughly equivalent to 8.9x109 kilograms per year. The Earth's oceans have about 1.3x109 cubic KM of water, and a cubic KM of water contains about 1011 kg of hydrogen (H). That means humans on Earth could sustain this rate of consumption over geological time-scales, in terms of available hydrogen (H).

·         Antimatter in large quantities would have a mechanism to produce power on a scale several magnitudes above the current level of technology. The reaction of 1 kg of Antimatter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1.8×1017 J (180 petajoules) of energy. Although sometimes Antimatter is proposed as a source of energy, this does not appear feasible. Theoretically, humanity may, in the future, have the capability to harvest and cultivate several naturally occurring sources of Antimatter. 

·         Renewable energy by converting sunlight into electricity - either by using solar cells and concentrating solar power or indirectly through bio-fuel, wind and hydroelectric power. There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with human-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, suppose a civilization constructed massive space-based solar power satellites. In that case, Type I power levels might become achievable - these could convert sunlight to microwave power and beam that to collectors on Earth.

 

 

Type-II civilization methods:

·         Type-II civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type-I civilization but applied to a large number of planets in a large number of Solar systems(planetary systems).

·         A Dyson sphere or Dyson swarm and similar constructs are hypothetical megastructures initially described by Freeman Dyson as a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to enclose a star completely and capture most or all of its energy output.

·         Another means to generate usable energy would be to feed a stellar mass into a black hole, and collect photons emitted by the accretion disc. Less exotic would be to capture photons already escaping from the accretion disc, reducing a black hole's angular momentum; this is known as the Penrose process.

·         Star lifting is a process where an advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses.

·         Antimatter is likely to be produced as an industrial byproduct of several megascale engineering processes (such as the aforementioned star lifting) and, therefore, could be recycled.

·         In multiple-star systems of a sufficiently large number of stars, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each star.

 

 

Type-III civilization methods:

·         Type III civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type II civilization, but applied to all possible stars of one or more galaxies individually.

·         They may also be able to tap into the energy released from the supermassive black holes which are believed to exist at the centre of most galaxies.

·         White holes, if they exist, theoretically could provide large amounts of energy from collecting the matter propelling outwards.

·         Capturing the energy of gamma-ray bursts is another theoretically possible power source for a highly advanced civilization.

·         The emissions from quasars are comparable to those of small active galaxies and could provide a vast power source if collectable.