Okay this might be a bit speculative for what we normally talk about here, but there's also a lot of folks here thinking about the long-term and specifically the long-term energy landscape. So: we're rapidly entering an era of (almost-)free, clean, ubiquitous energy. If we're at 1.7c/kwh solar bids now, imagine what prices will be like in 10 years. What's going to happen as a result?
As the price goes to zero I can at the very least see power becoming a "perk": neighborhoods/apartments with free power, vehicles sold with unlimited free mileage/charging, etc.
I also kind of see it as the death of environmentalism, in the sense of "reduce your impact" environmentalism. Why do such things if the you don't have to worry about your carbon footprint or food miles or ...? Why wouldn't everyone drive the EV version of a Cadillac Escalade? Or just live in a Tesla Semi trailer that constantly wanders the country? That last one might be a bit out there, but only a bit.
In one sense it seems like all other resources in a product become the weak link, so maybe mining and chemical refining become comparatively more important industries. But then again, if the embedded energy cost of something is basically zero, then recycling of anything becomes feasible and even grossly inefficient processes might be fine.
Since this is still quite a ways out, who do you think would be the victors here, in broad strokes? Top of the list would be battery companies, since they are enabling this whole thing to happen. I would imagine solar and wind companies do well for the next decade or two, but they both seem like they're in a race to the bottom. Robotics companies and recycling companies as well would be high on my list.
Thoughts?
As the price goes to zero I can at the very least see power becoming a "perk": neighborhoods/apartments with free power, vehicles sold with unlimited free mileage/charging, etc.
I also kind of see it as the death of environmentalism, in the sense of "reduce your impact" environmentalism. Why do such things if the you don't have to worry about your carbon footprint or food miles or ...? Why wouldn't everyone drive the EV version of a Cadillac Escalade? Or just live in a Tesla Semi trailer that constantly wanders the country? That last one might be a bit out there, but only a bit.
In one sense it seems like all other resources in a product become the weak link, so maybe mining and chemical refining become comparatively more important industries. But then again, if the embedded energy cost of something is basically zero, then recycling of anything becomes feasible and even grossly inefficient processes might be fine.
Since this is still quite a ways out, who do you think would be the victors here, in broad strokes? Top of the list would be battery companies, since they are enabling this whole thing to happen. I would imagine solar and wind companies do well for the next decade or two, but they both seem like they're in a race to the bottom. Robotics companies and recycling companies as well would be high on my list.
Thoughts?
