Astronomer Don Goldsmith reminds us that the earth receives about one billionth of the suns energy, and that humans utilize about what percentage of that?

From Astrobiology Magazine April 2004: an interview with Dr. Michio Kaku on How Advanced Could They Be: The Physics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations:

quote:

Berkeley astronomer Don Goldsmith reminds us that the earth receives about one billionth of the sun's energy, and that humans utilize about one millionth of that. So we consume about one million billionth of the sun's total energy.

That's 10^-15 for the exponentially-minded. This ties in with theorist Freeman Dyson's imaginative speculation that an advanced civilization could harness their star's entire energy output by building a gigantic spherical shell around it.

And I'm still working on insulating my hot water pipes...

Got it Prof. Thanx.