The energy ladder of civilizations. From mastering a planet, to harnessing a star, to wielding the output of a galaxy — a thought experiment for measuring technological reach across the cosmos. Drive the scene above to climb every rung, or read the full breakdown below.
We currently harvest roughly 18 TW of power — about 0.7% of the energy that reaches Earth from the Sun every second. We are not yet even a Type I civilization.
Energy of all the stars in the observable universe — a civilization across galaxy clusters.
Manipulates energy across multiple universes. Pure thought experiment — well beyond our current models of physics.
| Type | Name | Energy source | Power output | K value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planetary | Its home planet | ~10¹⁶ W | K = 1.0 | |
| Stellar | Its parent star | ~10²⁶ W | K = 2.0 | |
| Galactic | An entire galaxy | ~10³⁶ W | K = 3.0 | |
| Universal | The observable universe | ~10⁴⁶ W | K = 4.0 | |
| Type V | Multiversal | Multiple universes | beyond physics | K = 5.0 |
The Kardashev scale defines three types of civilization by the energy they can harness: Type I (planetary) controls all the energy of its home planet (~10¹⁶ W), Type II (stellar) captures the full output of its star (~10²⁶ W), and Type III (galactic) wields the energy of an entire galaxy (~10³⁶ W).
Civilizations are commonly ranked in stages by energy mastery: Type I (planetary), Type II (stellar), and Type III (galactic), with speculative extensions to Type IV (universal) and Type V (multiversal). Humanity is currently a pre-Type I civilization at about K = 0.73.
Humanity is not yet a Type I civilization. We generate roughly 18 terawatts of power, which puts Earth at about K = 0.73 on the Kardashev scale — still climbing toward the Type I threshold of K = 1.0.
The Kardashev scale was proposed in 1964 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev as a way to classify how technologically advanced a civilization is, based on the amount of energy it can use.
The original scale only goes up to Type III. Type IV (universal) and Type V (multiversal) were added later as speculative extensions, and labels like "Type VI", "Type Omega" or "Type 100" are informal shorthand rather than scientific categories.
