No Aliens Didn't Come here for Gold. Here's Why
If I read this post right https://www.reddit.com/r/DaystromInstitute/comments/2xzfzc/comment/cp4wvs2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Then the commentor estimated , if at max efficiency, " 7.45 x 10^14" Joules of energy would be needed to get 1KG of Gold. As I understand it from a quick google, 430 Quintillion Joules of energy hits the earth every hour. That's 430*10^18. If we just round up the cost from that redis post to 10^18 because why not, then we have enough energy, hitting the planet every hour, to make 430 KG of gold. As I understand it that is, (430/1000) Tons every hour or 0.47 Tons of Gold produced per hour. There are 2,080 hours per year so 4,425 tons of gold could be produced annually with a solar capture surface area, equal to that of our planet, pointed at the Sun. As I understand it there are 244,040 tons of gold that will ever be available for use on earth ( accessible with current tech ?) and we've mined 190,040 tones ...