BREAKING: With Access To Fully Operational Nuclear Reactor, Rich Nations Increase Dependance On Other Forms Of Energy
Poor Nations Expected To Pick Up The Slack
NEW YORK — Amid growing pressure to utilize environmentally-friendly sources of electricity, rich nations are turning to pollutant sources of energy, despite the availability of a reliable, efficient, safe, and incredibly powerful nuclear fusion reactor.
Facing increased scrutiny from a higher level awareness and climate activism, rich nations are shifting blame to developing countries for greenhouse gas emissions.
Members of the general public, however, are not satisfied with a mere shift in blame. They have questions and they want answers.
Rich nations, citing a myriad of reasons, have increased reliance on pseudo-ecological sources of energy subsidized by fossil fuels. While doing so, these nations have been careful to remind the public that an outsized amount of greenhouse gasses is being emitted by developing nations.
Instead of engineering and exporting methods and technologies conducive to clean energy, developed nations have suggested that developing nations halt their own innovation and shut down their economies in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
All of this is happening as scientist continue to struggle to replicate the ancient technology used to power the sun. Not only has it been difficult to replicate the energy generating technology used in the sun, we haven’t been able to even harvest the energy from it.
Harvesting solar energy has proven so difficult that rich nations have attempted to turn away from the sun entirely.
Finding it easier to harness a breeze than a the most energy-rich object in the solar system, rich nations are turning to less efficient sources of clean energy with significantly less potential upside.
Many environmentalists are thrilled by the move, while others are utterly dumbfounded at the celebration of the failure to to harness the most powerful force in the solar system and corresponding total obsession with wind and other forms of energy.
When the sun was invented approximately a long time ago, it forever changed the course of human history, and of life itself. For starters, it made life possible.
The sun is one of literally millions of stars in the universe, making it seems like an unremarkable occurrence but the sun is quite unique in that it is the only one that has been observed to shine on life. The Suns is the only known star to have met the exact requirements to generate and facilitate life and it relentlessly blasts the earth with energy-rich life-giving rays.
Throughout their earthly journey, humans have never been without the sun’s companionship. The human race does not know of life without the sun. Yet, the sun has often been misunderstood and taken for granted. Until 1543 the sun was thought to orbit the earth. To put that in perspective, land mines, golf balls, flamethrowers, the printing press, muzzle-loaded rifles, toilet paper, the parachute, and ice cream were all invented before the theory of heliocentrism. Leonardo da Vinci was already seriously theorizing about flying machines and contact lenses, Christopher Columbus was dead, and Oxford University was already over 400 years old. Heliocentrism is only 25 years older than bottled beer and 35 years older than the submarine.
Despite the long history of misunderstanding the sun, putting it to use is simple enough, and the human race has successfully done do for generations. Us humans have always relied on the sun for warmth, to grow our crops, and for navigation. We have also been able to convert sunlight into electricity.
It just takes the use of solar cells. Invented in 1883, solar cells are another another old technology, although not quite not as ancient as nuclear fusion. The first solar panels were installed on a rooftop in New York City in 1884 and solar powered devices began appearing as soon as 1888. But, the technology hasn’t taken off as some have hoped. Moore’s Law, after all, doesn’t apply to all technologies.
Nearly a century later, In 1973, the University of Delaware’s “Solar One” became one of the first solar buildings.
The first solar cells were efficient at a rate of 1 to 2 percent. By the 1950s, they had achieved a conversion rate of 6 percent. Today’s solar panels are around 15 percent efficient. It is a laggard improvement compared to the rapid rate at which other technologies advanced.
The slow improvements in solar are certainly due, in part, to the complexities of using the sun to generate clean energy. However, there has also been resistance to solar energy, sometimes in the form of inadvertent negligence and sometimes in the form of intentional opposition.
To address inadvertent negligence, a profit motive has been suggested. Some have pointed to the lack of monetization opportunity suggesting, “lets just let somebody buy the sun and charge a fee for using it.”
Allowing royalties to be charged for the consumption of sunlight is, plainly, a bad idea, and would only ever happen in a dystopian version of our own world. It would also be a logistical nightmare. Just like the internet, the sun was not patented. This makes the sun one of the biggest open source projects ever.
Addressing intentional opposition can be challenging as well. One group of protesters recently gathered on in Washington, D.C. to protest investment in solar energy because “oil is natural and comes from the ground.”
When they were reminded that the sun is also a natural resource, the group slowly dispersed.
Despite the outlandish opposition, there are genuine questions as to why more hasn’t been done to promote the advancement of solar technologies. There is increasing exasperation among some groups in the lack of institutional support for the solar industry. They feel that more could be done to enable scientists to unleash the full potential of human ingenuity. The invention of the windmill obviously predated the invention of Solar panel, but the first wind mills began appearing before it was discovered that the earth orbits the sun. Ever since then, it seems, humans have been distracted by harnessing wind and water at the expense of harnessing the sun.
There is also growing frustration that failure, malice, and ineptitude in the implementation side of the industry are harming the research and development side of the industry. Sales companies have become the flag bearers of solar and it could be harming the perception of the technology. The solar sales is riddled with controversy and is no stranger to scandal.
Many have pointed out that solar is essentially the only emerging technology that is sold by door-to-door salespeople Other technologies, like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, gene editing, and observation of gravitational microlensing aren’t sold by teenagers on mopeds.
It is entirely possible that solar technology is not yet ready for widespread use. If that is the case, it would be prudent to slow the deployment of solar, particularly residential rooftop solar, until the technology is ready. This means cheap, safe, and efficient at scale. Vaccines are not distributed during the development stage. Solar needs the proper investment, then needs to follow the order of operations for emerging technologies.
Wind, hydro, and geothermal each have major issues of their own, but the real issue isn’t that these methods are bad, its that solar should be better. Any source of energy that can reduce the carbon footprint of the human race is worthwhile. It stands to reason that the sun should be able to power not only all life on earth, but enough electricity for humans to rely on. If solar is incapable of doing so, it presents a significant opportunity for the human race to put to use its problem solving abilities, one of the things humans do best.
It is also important to note that even very advanced solar power technology wouldn’t be able to fully replace all the forms of energy that humans rely on but advances in the technology could help enable human beings to responsibly use all the resources at their disposal to create a sustainable and equitable society for all.
Stay tuned for more on this story as it unfolds.
Disclaimer: the author does not do summer sales.