Inferno

Dan Brown's Inferno has an intriguing premise: the collapse of the world due to overpopulation. I've also wondered about overpopulation and how we're going to survive when I travel through the southwest US. It seemed every few months as I passed through Tucson, that more houses were being built. I kept wondering the same thing about these developments. Las Vegas has grown enormously in the last hundred years. Decades ago, LA worried about overpopulation. The reason: source of water. Where are all these people going to get water while living in the desert? Lake Meade is finite.

Water is one thing. Clean water is another. How much energy consumption will be needed to continually clean up water? How much water are we using to make alternative fuels?

I don't know the answers. I have the questions. I once proposed that a company come up with an air knife disposal that would process food waste without using water. It may not be feasible, but I still hoped.