Hyperefficient solar panels
Biochemists have long known of examples in the wild of structures capable of converting light energy into chemical (stored) energy with extremely high efficiency – figures of 90% or even 100% have been knocking about (with important caveats – e.g. this figure depends on the light being of the right wavelength, etc).
I’m of the firm belief that when it comes to structures and devices, what nature evolved, humans can in time approximate or perhaps even improve upon by design (though when it comes to complex systems like the human cell – in extraordinarily complex and interlinked homeostasis – it’s borderline impossible to design from scratch).
So what happens to society when hyper-efficient photovoltaic technology arrives that allows us to ‘mine’ the Earth’s one and only energetic input with >90% efficiency? We’ll be able to power our lives without relying on digging up pre-existing energy stores.
That day could bring a technosocial revolution of the likes we haven’t seen in a long time, certainly since the invention of the Internet.
It’ll almost certainly affect the balance of power globally and within a country’s society, government and markets. What’s more, if it changes how we power our lives – which it would, if it brings power generation and usage closer together, into the hands of the citizen, not as currently remote as a distant power station – it may also bring about a radical reappraisal of our lifestyles and the energy demands of the different parts of that lifestyle, each with wildly different importance to our survival, progress and happiness.
Just think – and let me know in the comments – how your life, and the society and government around you – could be different if power generation was a) not dependent on stored sunlight-derived resources (include nuclear) being dug out of the ground; and b) if you generated all/most of your power yourself/as a neighbourhood co-op. Also have a think about what needs to change – infrastructure, legislation, baseline attitudes, auxiliary tech – before that day can arrive.
Happy (energetic?) independence day.
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