Sources: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/02/artificial_ph... http://www.examiner.com/article/body-heat-power-to-replace-b... http://www.examiner.com/article/graphene-super-capacitor-cou...
On the horizon: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/149090-nasas-cold-fusion-...
What happens when our need for energy is met and then exceeded? What will that mean for the global economy, and will our potential for advancement be met? I encourage responses from anyone in pertinent fields, and welcome any relevant articles or critiques of any assumptions I or the authors have made.
If and when we come up with a vastly less expensive energy source, I worry that our current economic and patent system will keep us from realizing its potential for some time. For example, if an extremely efficient solar cell is developed, will it be produced near cost, or will the difference be reserved as profit as long as the patent keeps other manufacturers from producing it?
Alternately, it could be the thing that creates the political will to fix the patent system. That would be neither something only technologists care about like software patents, nor something that only creates obvious problems in developing countries like drug patents.
That's true. Even if a patent was filed, I can imagine some countries ignoring the patent and using the technology. In that sense it would be similar to some drugs that are very inexpensive to produce, but patented and very expensive to buy. Some governments have chosen to promote the creation of generics for their domestic market anyway.
I feel as though, while there will be a great deal of resistance from special interest groups, some sort of large-scale change is inevitable. With such abundant sources of energy, I don't see why entrepreneurs would resist automation. No health coverage to worry about, no one getting injured on the job, execution as perfect as code allows it to be. No pensions to worry about. Also, with at the rate these things are developing, I can't help but imagine that there will be an invention (perhaps made possible by graphene capacitors) that give people relatively inexpensive energy autonomy. It isalready happening on a small scale via solar panels and personal wind turbines.
Some elaboration: Artificial Photosynthesis: the possibilities with a technology like this is vast. The real beauty of artificial photosynthesis lay in the implication that our technologies can redeem our environmental sins, in a way. 'Cut down all the trees! We're working on artificial wood, too!' Body Heat Batteries: perhaps the least consequential of the linked technologies due to the limited amount of heat humans produce, it still has the potential to change our daily lives. Imagine using these to help with the electricity bill, or as an extra charge for your ipad. I would assert that the precedent is important: utilizing that runoff energy, being more efficient. Graphene Capacitor I don't even know where to start with the things this technology could mean if made practical. Super simple, portable, orders of magnitude more efficient. It could mean the supremacy of the electric car, or immunity from blackouts.
This belongs here, too: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/04/040413-cals-hydrog...