It seems that prosperity is directly correlated with energy consumption or “disposable” energy. The fact that we can turn on & use all electric appliances at will in the western world is incredible. What do I mean with disposable energy? It’s the energy I have at my fingertips. I can use less energy and try to conserve as much electricity as possible, but if need be, it’s easy for me to use it.
Energy has always been used by mankind, from burning wood, but also oil in early lamps. The efficiency was low and it was very expensive to get. And also limited. We then changed to burning other things, but also the efficiency has increased with using steam engines to power other things. Before Energy = Warmth & Light, and now it could power everything. We then burned more stuff that’s more efficient compared to wood: coal & oil. When people say that our society is build on oil, that’s because for our prosperity we need energy. And this energy has been supplied by oil and coal, a little bit by gas, nuclear, and now ever more by wind and solar. Regardless of the percentages, the core understanding is, that if we want to have a better future for our children and for the millions of people who want to achieve our prosperity levels, it should be of outmost importance that we find solutions to create more energy.
The funny thing is, that if you imagine a world, where energy is abundant and therefore free, we could use that energy to solve a lot of things. What makes things expensive? Usually because in one form or another it’s hard to produce / extract / deliver. (Apart from luxury things). Could you imagine a world where we don’t extract things from the earth but use our knowledge of physics and chemistry (and biology) to create them (basically out of thin air)? Could you imagine a world where there is a fridge, running clean water, toilets and lights in every home. With all the benefits? From health, to education, to free time and well prosperity.
The constraints of that kind of world will quickly come down to how many people do you have that are willing and able to do something. To create something. That would be a great world. If we could just solve this energy thing…
What I am trying to get at:
Most technologies and problems we encounter come from either too few humans want / can do these job (lack of skills) or it is too expensive because of energy costs.
Oh, and last thought, if you had too much energy, you could use that as well to clean up the air, fix the environment, etc.
Will we solve these challenges?
- Well, the west is famously short on people, and this will just get worse over the next few years and decades. So we would probably need more people, either children or immigration. The skill part could be a place where AI makes a difference.
- Energy is a tough one, all the solar and wind energy capacity is build for a world of today, not of tomorrow. I do believe we need something like fusion or small nuclear reactors to make this idea a reality.
But maybe we don’t get there and we will go another route. I’m very curious to see, where we and our children will choose to go.
Ping's Blubb 