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Worldbuilding

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    $\begingroup$ Was the planet lifeless before terraforming? Is there plate tectonics?(This has big impact on geology). Was there a previous civilization on the planet recently resource? Whatever organization that is doing and or paying for the terraforming should still be present. Where are they? If terraforming, wouldn't transformers have ensured there was sufficient carbon either add start or added? $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
  • $\begingroup$ Peripheraly related: What does my 3D Printing Life-Seeder Probe need to print to populate the Universe for humans? - relevant to the ecosystem as a whole, but in the case of that one it's over millions of years. $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ Please edit your post with a much better definition of what fuels you're looking for. "Fossil fuels" isn't just too broad, it's also very misleading. A google search for "can hydrocarbon-based fuels exist on a barren planet?" reveals several different ways such fuels can form on a world with no life at all - but they may not be the fuels you have in mind. Also remember that just because humanity solved the problem one way due to the abundance of any one particular kind of fuel doesn't mean the problem can't be solved in many different ways depending on what's available. $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ Note: The stone/bronze age population levels of Earth were miniscule compared to now. Should we presume the same applies to your world? It'd make a difference to how far some alternatives will stretch. $\endgroup$ Commented yesterday
  • $\begingroup$ How long have the colonists lived on the planet, and in what number? Have they left a significant amount of trash dumps? $\endgroup$ Commented yesterday