Calculating potential cumulative carbon fixed and evolutionary stage for Earthlike planets in our solar neighborhood

We propose a novel method for estimating possible evolutionary stage on exoplanets based on the hypothesis that evolutionary rate is a linear function of cumulative carbon fixed on an entire planet. We explore the implications of this hypothesis using spatially explicit climate simulations of TRAPPIST-1e, a tidally locked planet within the habitable zone of a red dwarf star ~40 light years away. We estimate that Earth has cumulatively fixed ~9.4 e25 g C carbon, and TRAPPIST 1e (T1e) as an ocean world with 400 ppm CO2 using photon energy of wavelengths 400 -1100 nm would need 22 Gy years to fix the same amount of carbon. Since T1e's mean estimated age is 7.6 Gyr, we estimate it to be at a potential microbial, but not multicellular life stage. We then apply this technique to 29 nearby exoplanets that may have the conditions suitable for harboring life and using 400-1100nm light, assuming a 30% continent ratio. We identify one planet that surpasses Earth’s cumulative NPP and which could have both multicellular and intelligent life and 5 planets at the potential multicellular stage. Planets most likely to have higher cumulative NPP than Earth are also most likely to be dominated (more than Earth) by precipitation-limited ecosystems, like deserts or temperate ecosystems (versus boreal or tropical ecosystems). Planets GJ1061c and K2-3D rank highest in cumulative productivity potential under a number of our scenarios because they are bigger, hotter, brighter, and older than other planets in the solar neighborhood.