Yeah, no. Elon Musk should instead focus on fixing the Peaks that will make the Almighty Industrial Revolution look like a blip on the easel of the history of history. Space travel, cars and the Internet has no future beyond the next 10~ years. Possibly shorter if the financial paradigm falls sooner.
* Peak oil, gas, coal, phosphorous, rare earth metals, uranium, copper, iron und su weiter.
No, because even if we got more of those (and fossil fuels, the most crucial component of our "prosperous" Western societies aren't available from the skies) we wouldn't solve the most conspicuous problem: growth. Billions will die in this century, world pop will plummet to ~ 0.5 billion and the Internet, cars and all such trivialities will vanish.
The first step? Stopping the senseless notion we will ever get off this rock and implement a "reduce, reuse, recycle and do without" paradigm akin to world war 2 rationing, will be the first step.
Batteries can't be an alternative because:
1) They need fossil fuels and finite minerals/metals to be manufactured and transported
2) The EROEI is way less
The earth had plenty of room and resources before we "decided" (we didn't, we're humans, like yeast we try to consume everything in our path until the overshoot is apparent and we collapse) that 7-9 billion people and American 1000 gallon a year per capita lifestyles were viable. Haha, what folly.
Club of Rome tried to warn, but since we wanted growth, collapse is what "we" "deserve". Thanks former generations for not heeding the rational advice.
* Peak oil, gas, coal, phosphorous, rare earth metals, uranium, copper, iron und su weiter.
Sorry Elon!