Kardashev Scale – Type 1 Civilization Explained

In our previous blog of the Kardashev Scale, we have explained about Type 0 civilization. Now it’s
time to discuss Type 1 Civilization. Here is a starter explanation. Type 1 Civilization is all about fully
utilizing all the energy available on the home planet. For ours, it’s utilizing all the energy available on
Earth.

A Type 1 Civilization will be able to harness all the energy from within, beneath, and on the planet.
When I say energy, I mean it must be able to harness energy from every possible source. It may be
earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. For a Type 1 Civilization, even natural disasters are sources of
energy. They must be able to control disasters and change the climate according to their wish. For
example, if we were a Type 1 Civilization, we must be able to stop climate change and make it
greener, cooler, and cleaner.

Moreover, we can extract energy from natural disasters. Say, there is an earthquake. Right now, we
panic but for a Type 1 Civilization, they see it as an opportunity and harness energy from it. They can
make natural disasters happen to extract energy. Again, to be a Type 1 Civilization, we must be able
to fully utilize all the solar energy. Other sources of energy that we must master include tidal energy,
tectonic energy, gravitational energy, wind energy, nuclear energy, etc.

Whether we are a Type 1 Civilization or not depends on how much energy we consume. To become a
Type 1 Civilization, we must use at least 4×1012 watts/second. That’s really an awful amount of
energy. It’s nearly how much the amount of energy we used in a full year. We are currently at 0.73 on
the Kardashev Scale. You may think we are very close to becoming a Type 1 Civilization but we are
really far from reaching it. The Kardashev Scale is logarithmic. Currently, we use only 2.4* 103
watts/second. To reach Type 1 on the Kardashev Scale, we need to use energy 1.6 billion times then
we currently use. That’s no easy feat. But we can still achieve this if we master vacuum energy,
nuclear fusion, and harnessing the energy of our sun. For vacuum energy, there is a popular debate on
whether we can harness this energy. So, after finishing this series of Kardashev scale within a week, I
will write a blog discussing whether we can actually harness it or not. Make sure you read it.

This is it for Kardashev Scale – Type 1 Civilization. Tomorrow, I will explain Type 2 Civilization.
Thank you for reading!