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.