User:Farred/Remote Controlled Industry
Remote Controlled Industry on Earth Developing remote controled industry on the moon would be helped by some experience in remote controled industry on Earth. Some industries on Earth are dangerous and difficult for workers, and therefore good candidates for gaining experience with remote controled industry. These include coal mining in anaerobic conditions and in underwater digging and earth moving.
In deep anaerobic coal mines air is pumped into the mine for the workers to breath. The ventilation must be continually refreshed. This creates the additional danger of explosion. At great depths cooling is required for human health. In changing over to remote controled machine mining, the workers would stay safely on the surface at control consols. No air would be pumped into the mine eliminating the danger of explosion. Machines do not need to be as greatly cooled as humans so the cooling problem is reduced. Machines can be designed to be resistant to dirty environments so people would not be subject to black lung disease and the general discomfort of working in dirt. Remote controled coal mines are not intended to replace all human coal miners, only those with the worst conditions for human health. The main purpose is to develop experience in remote controled industry to better know how to develop remote controled mines on the moon. Particularlly deep, hot gold mines and diamond mines are other candidates for remote operation.
The mining of methane clathrates at the ocean bottoms could benefit from the use of some remote controlled devices at the ocean bottom. While clathrate mining does not seem ripe for big profits immediately, methane produces less CO2 per unit energy than coal, and energy markets could change at any time.
The filling of undersea valleys and cutting through undersea hills could also benefit from the use of remote controlled devices at the ocean bottom in the process of laying level immersed tube tunnels.
All of the experiences of remote controlled industry on Earth should be collected and analyzed for the benefit of establishing remote controlled industry on the moon.
