Modern, industrial civilization has provided a lifestyle for ordinary people that Kings and Emperors in previous eras would have envied. The growth of technology has provided appliances that do the work for each person that previously was done by dozens of servants. People have access to mobility, comfort, entertainment, and information undreamed of just a short time ago in human history.

The problem is that all of those vacuum cleaners, plasma TVs, home computers, and automobiles need energy to make them work. The advance of technology means more devices needing more energy. The growth of population means more people demanding those devices needing more energy. And, to top everything off, regions of the world emerging from third world status—India and China being prime examples—create an even greater demand for energy.

Nearly every source of energy on Earth presents problems. The burning of oil and coal causes pollution, including the sort that some point to as the cause of global warming. Potential new sources of oil tend to be in places that are either politically unstable, such as the Middle East, or in environmentally controversial areas, such as Alaska or off shore from California or Florida. Nuclear power, while safer than in previous years, is still politically controversial and still produces radioactive waste that is difficult to dispose of. Renewable sources, such as ground based solar and wind, cannot generate enough energy to keep pace with the growing demands of human civilization.

Is the world condemned to a Hobson’s choice of rationing energy or else accepting the dangers and tradeoffs of exploiting more and more of the Earth’s energy sources? Perhaps not. The answer may well lay about a quarter of a million miles away, at a place people can see on most clear nights. Indeed, the Earth’s Moon may be the Persian Gulf of the later 21st Century, if we have the will to make use of what it has to offer.