Chris
Phoenix has some sobering thoughts on the potential coming energy crisis…
If oil supply ever does fall below demand, we can expect prices to rise steeply.
At this point, it could take years for alternative technologies to come online,
no matter how much economic incentive there is–and meanwhile, since oil demand
is relatively "inelastic," the price of oil will be bid up until
it slows the global economy enough to reduce demand. That’s an ugly picture.
…as well as some thoughts on what we might do about it:
So how does this relate to molecular manufacturing? Well, to avoid a "Peak
experience," some new technology will have to come online and grow quite
rapidly. It will have to support rapid research and development (meaning,
rapid prototyping of industrial-scale projects). Then it will have to support
rapid trillion-dollar-scale building of infrastructure.
Read the whole
thing, including the comments, which feature a lively discussion about alternative
oil sources. My favorite has got to be turkey
offal, which really is being used today to produce a product not unlike
deisel fuel. There is some talk of using agricultural waste (cornstalks) or
growing crops (peanuts, sunflower seeds) specifically to convert to oil.
This got me to wondering…if turkey guts could be used to produce oil, why
not human waste? I’m sure we produce a lot more of the latter than the former,
and we already go to great lengths to collect and process it. This could include
not only what we flush down the toilet, but also much of what normally goes
out with the trash (or down the disposal): bones, rinds, leftovers, etc.
Not as exciting an a nanotechnology solution, I’ll grant you.
Speaking of exciting nanotechnology solutions, Chris also has the scoop on
a big breakthrough that
took place a decade ago.
