Assumptions for 2050 - World Outlook

The following are our world socio-economic-enviro assumptions for 2050 on which our design project 3 is based:

1. 2 deg Celsius temperature rise target was not met by world leaders and institutions
2. The world has seen approximately 80 mm of sea-level rise, eating up 10% of coastal lands
3. World population is approaching 10 billion people. India by far has highest population
4. Life-expectancy worldwide average is 73 yrs today, 84 yrs by 2050.
5. Land and sea temperatures have both risen by non-trivial amounts.
6. Overall shortage of land and real estate becomes a stark reality as cities sprawl uncontrollably and rural populations dwindle due to significantly higher earning potential in urban environments
7. The birth to death ratio is lower than today (2:1) and is around (1.7:1)
8. There’s overall shortage of food, water, and housing/ shelter worldwide, not just regionally

Assumptions for 2050 - Technology Outlook

The following are our technology assumptions for 2050 on which our design project 3 is based:

1. Solar PV efficiency is now upwards of 45% for opaque PV cells
2. Innovations in solar glass have made it viable to achieve 30% efficiency in transparent solar cells
3. High density of completely off-the-grid housing structures exist and are ubiquitous
4. Carbon capture and CCS technology has advanced to the extent it’s deployable at homes
5. Coal is non-existent worldwide, with the only fossil energy source being natural gas
6. There’s worldwide alignment for new housing to be 100% off-the-grid
7. There’s also alignment that most housing structures must be positive energy producers (produce more than they consume) and positive carbon capture (capture more carbon than they produce)
8. Housing structures migrate to 50%+ renewable non-metallic content (by weight) and 70%+ renewable metallic content (by weight)
9. Underground usage, and underground boring, advances significantly where housing structures are mandated to go lower from today’s typical 500 sq ft per person to 250 sq ft per person (with the help of underground square footage also counting)