both Amos & Clinton have important points...but which ultimately boil down to "larger bandaids", maybe with some antiseptic included. Great..I applaud it! Develop the better " system-engineering approach" and FIND those ignored resources....and be aware that there are finite limits to them.

Important concept: "Carrying capacity" The limit that a system can tolerate without collapse of major ecological components ...not easy to pin down precisely, but always there as a limit, whether temporary as to the current level of knowlege, or absolute. This is easy to see in places like Indian cliff-dwellings in arid country, or isolated places like Easter Island, but harder to grasp for the entire world.

The Earth will not support 47 trillion people, no matter WHAT is discovered.