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Energy is the key driver of productivity in this world. Now, energy costs money, which incentivizes people to try to use it efficiently to achieve whatever thei
by zaroth 5y ago
Energy is the key driver of productivity in this world. Now, energy costs money, which incentivizes people to try to use it efficiently to achieve whatever their goal or whatever it is they’re trying to produce.
The question isn’t quite “should we worry about power consumption” because the market already does that pretty efficiently. Generally speaking people will try not to just throw away money if they can think of a better way to spend it.
So let’s assume we’re not talking about eliminating pure waste, because that’s an obvious answer. There are a lot of companies that focus on identifying and eliminating energy waste actually.
But I think what you’re asking is, to what extend should we actually limit marginally productive uses of energy in order to reduce overall consumption, even when the value of the end-product exceeds the cost of the energy?
My personal answer to that is… not at all. In fact, I think energy is way too expensive overall currently, and we need to be working very hard as a society to drive down the cost of energy, and in turn, increase per-capita energy usage significantly.
Energy usage is directly correlated with standard of living, health, and economic output / productivity. Increasing energy costs or throttling energy usage is a regressive tax and ultimately stymies economic growth.
I would guess that the next great human accomplishments in my lifetime will be a human on Mars, abundant clean energy on Earth, and cheap/practical immunotherapy to cure cancer and auto-immune diseases at low cost.
I doubt it will be quite a “Mr. Fusion” on the Tesla I can toss breakfast scraps into and then drive 300 miles, but for example, solar panels and battery system efficient and cheap enough to give me all the energy I could need for something on the order of $1-$2 a day (current electric bill is more like $12-$15 / day).
- agumonkey 5y agoThe physical aspect seems drowned in human group chaos. Slight example: public sector agencies can be so inefficient, people have to come multiple times for almost no reasons, that's useless transportation. I've witnessed it in a courthouse. Rethinking our workflows, leveraging more IT (proper IT) here would help I believe.
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago>Generally speaking people will try not to just throw away money if they can think of a better way to spend it. Actually I think that is exactly what we do. My neighbours buy bigger and bigger cars which have very little extra utility for them. The same for their houses. Conspicuous consumption is a thing. >Energy usage is directly correlated with standard of living, health, and economic output / productivity. Energy use in the UK has declined over the last twenty years whilst the economy has been growing. Health is largely a function of clean water, good diet and exercise. Food in particular has been consuming a decreasing part of the economy for a century. We can go a long way by being a lot smarter, the laptop I'm typing this on consumes a fraction of the energy of the one I used twenty years ago. The new houses near me use heat pumps vs the resistive heating in my house. >I doubt it will be quite a “Mr. Fusion” on the Tesla I can toss breakfast scraps into and then drive 300 miles, but for example, solar panels and battery system efficient and cheap enough to give me all the energy I could need for something on the order of $1-$2 a day (current electric bill is more like $12-$15 / day). I can remember when we were promised energy too cheap to meter. It didn't happen and I doubt it ever will. Wishful thinking isn't going to get us out of the mess we have created.