# Free unlimited energy is here, now what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 28, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995 "2014-01-28T23:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/21 "2014-01-29T16:21:31Z")
We’ve had flying cars for over a century now. The problem with them isn’t the power source; it’s the controls. You don’t want those things where humans can crash them. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/22 "2014-01-29T16:48:56Z")
> [@arielburns](#): > > Yep, as life expectancy rises, so would use of natural resources. The problem with making anything better for humanity will always be our inability to control the population. Until people would be willing to say these people can have children, and or, I accept euthanasia as a viable concept, I’m not sure we’d see any improvement in the quality of life. There would be huge advances that promote proliferation of the population and the back-blow would be palpable. > [@andros](#): > > Sure, population becomes an issue, eventually…but the planetary carrying capacity becomes much higher as well. Eventually we’ll need to implement global population control standards, likely at gunpoint. But not for several generations. I’m not convinced that overpopulation would ever become a problem. Sure, population would increase as developing countries developed more quickly than we thought possible, but that growth wouldn’t last forever. As living conditions get better, population growth slows steadily. After the initial burst ends, it’s entirely possible that world’s population could start to _decrease_. ---
**Author:** ![twhitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@twhitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twhitt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/23 "2014-01-29T17:06:24Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > I’m not convinced that overpopulation would ever become a problem. Sure, population would increase as developing countries developed more quickly than we thought possible, but that growth wouldn’t last forever. As living conditions get better, population growth slows steadily. After the initial burst ends, it’s entirely possible that world’s population could start to _decrease_. Agreed. I can’t really see the cost influencing many families’ decisions about how many children to have except at the margin. Most middle class families have the number of children they wish for, which tends toward being under the repopulation rate of 2.1. As we move more people out of poverty, the birth rate has been, and would continue to fall under this scenario. Population would probably stabilize at a lower level than current projections, and we would be able to support those fewer people with a remarkably better quality of life. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/24 "2014-01-29T17:16:54Z")
:shrug: Well, I think it’s worth pointing out that global life expectancy will increase dramatically (and continue to increase long-term), and a sudden drop in infant mortality rates. We’d certainly see a tremendous population boom in the short-term. That said, you may well be right about stability in the mid- to long-term. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/25 "2014-01-29T17:23:25Z")
Look at what happened when Watt made a practical steam engine aka started the Industrial Revolution. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/26 "2014-01-29T18:09:21Z")
So what happens in the Middle East once the world doesn’t need their oil anymore? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/27 "2014-01-29T18:09:26Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Look at what happened when Watt made a practical steam engine aka started the Industrial Revolution. I’ll bite, Watt? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/28 "2014-01-29T18:16:14Z")
> [@Gretchion](#): > > So what happens in the Middle East once the world doesn’t need their oil anymore? Oil will still be needed, for non-fuel uses, but the demand will definitely plummet. Saudi Arabia/Qatar/Kuwait/Dubai etc. would revert to the sleepy backwaters they are supposed to be. Iran would struggle. Israel would still prosper 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/29 "2014-01-29T18:19:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’ll bite, Watt? Second base. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/30 "2014-01-29T19:13:40Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Heat pollution wouldn’t be an immediate issue – the direct thermal output of energy use would be much less than what we have now (the same direct thermal output plus greenhouse gas effects). Light pollution might increase, though I’m not sure it would be any more of an issue than it would be anyway with increases in lighting efficiency from the transition from incandescents to CFLs to LEDs. Why will we pursue those efficiencies, if we have essentially unlimited free energy? ---
**Author:** ![Consensus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Consensus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consensus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/31 "2014-01-29T19:40:28Z")
The seamless cube would be about 2kg/4.4lbs measuring 15 cm/6 inches on each side. It’s a self containing unit that is only capable of giving 15kW at any time, ac or dc from 1 to 10kV. No radiation, heat or magnetic emission. If you try to open the cube, the seal is broken and the device stops working and becomes useless. Eventhough the technology sounds sci-fi, I think it could be around the corner. But what’s ofcourse more interesting is the impact such a device would have, and how we would cope with that change. This wouldn’t just be the next new device like the tv, pc or smartphone. This is the device that will power all your devices, old and new. It will however skyrocket the demand for raw resources, copper will be the new gold I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/32 "2014-01-29T19:48:53Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > Eventhough the technology sounds sci-fi, I think it could be around the corner. Why do you think that? > [@](#): > > It will however skyrocket the demand for raw resources, copper will be the new gold I suspect. Sure, maybe. But that will be somewhat offset for quite a while by reducing recycling costs to nearly zero. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/33 "2014-01-29T20:17:41Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Why will we pursue those efficiencies, if we have essentially unlimited free energy? It doesn’t much matter whether we do or not – the development of high-efficiency lighting already means we can cheaply generate as much light as we want, so free energy wouldn’t change the situation much. That said, the more efficient technologies have other advantages (e.g. longer life between bulb changes) that make them attractive even if energy costs aren’t an issue. ---
**Author:** ![twhitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@twhitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twhitt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/34 "2014-01-29T20:23:08Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > It will however skyrocket the demand for raw resources, copper will be the new gold I suspect. What percentage of our copper supply goes into power distribution? If we pulled down every power line in the country, I suspect we’d have a ton of surplus; there are many uses for it, sure, but most of them don’t really require very much mass. Similarly, aluminum would become absurdly abundant, being one of the most common materials in the earth’s crust. The limiting factor in our aluminum production, and the reason we recycle the stuff at all, is the energy requirement to refine it from ore. ---
**Author:** ![Deu5Vult](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@Deu5Vult](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deu5Vult)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/35 "2014-01-29T21:00:06Z")
> [@arielburns](#): > > Tesla claimed he had a way to make energy limitless and free. J.P. Morgan had financed his efforts for a while and he had a mad laboratory in Colorado Springs where he shot bolts of electricity at the sky. How completely awesome. He did invent some pretty terrific things like finalizing the manifestation of alternating current. I tend to believe he had something going on there - and he died completely broke and ignored at that point. Even after Wardenclyffe fizzled out, largely due to Tesla’s ego and not knowing how to honour a contract, he still continued to have his work and opinions published in popular magazines and even gave lectures up to his dying day. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize, appeared on the front cover of TIME magazine, had King Peter II of Yugoslavia visit him at his own apartment and over 2,000 people attended his funeral. Even the first lady and president telegraphed their sentiments. To contend that Tesla died ‘ignored’ when he had accomplished much, much more than the average Herbet, could be viewed as nothing short of an affront to the man’s life. It seems that this notion is most popular amongst conspiracy theorists who assert, without proof, that Morgan supressed Tesla by cutting his funding (although he had paid Tesla everything as per their contract - a fact which Tesla highlights himself in his autobiography) and then somehow had him ostracised from society. If the mention of Tesla here is a hint at a precedent, and I’m not saying that it is, of what we can expect should someone actually invent and prepare to market an over-unity device, then I’m not wholly convinced. The “powers that be” have done very little to protect their hegemony in recent years, or perhaps at all, given the expansion in renewable energy and the targets forecast by the US and the UK alone. Even here in the Oil Capital of Europe we are expecting our first fleet of hydrogen buses sometime this year or next, and those who took advantage of the government’s grants towards installing solar panels in their homes can actually sell generated units of electricity (used or unused) back to the utility companies. Considering the government incentives to go electric with regards to automobiles, I think we can safely say that Chevron did not kill the electric car either. If I believed just one spook story I read on PESWIKI I’d be a happy man knowing that these kind of “free energy” devices are actually possible. ---
**Author:** ![Consensus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Consensus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consensus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/36 "2014-01-29T22:40:24Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Why do you think that? Mostly because of the particle excellerator experiments that will give us very useful information how things work under extreme circumstances like shortly after the big bang. Hopefully we can then also shed some light on dark matter/energy and further unravel the mystery of mass and gravity. With the aid of the quantum processor the vast amount of data from these experiments should lead to some solid theories. Once you have this, practical application is right around the corner. 🆒 Shoot me for being optimistic ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/37 "2014-01-30T03:20:10Z")
> [@Consensus](#): > > Mostly because of the particle excellerator experiments that will give us very useful information how things work under extreme circumstances like shortly after the big bang. Hopefully we can then also shed some light on dark matter/energy and further unravel the mystery of mass and gravity. > With the aid of the quantum processor the vast amount of data from these experiments should lead to some solid theories. Once you have this, practical application is right around the corner. 🆒 Shoot me for being optimistic I hope you’re right, but fusion power has been 10 years away for my most of my life, and I’m pretty damn old. And there is actually a potentially understood path to making that work. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/38 "2014-01-30T16:54:25Z")
This question reminds me of the movie _Envy_ (unbelievable, I know)where Jack Black invents 'Vapooraize" that instantly makes do poo disappear. People love it but eventually start asking, “Um, where is all the poo going?” So,no energy is “free” in the physical sense, right? So what exactly is being sacrificed to make all this free energy? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/39 "2014-01-30T17:29:26Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > This question reminds me of the movie _Envy_ (unbelievable, I know)where Jack Black invents 'Vapooraize" that instantly makes do poo disappear. People love it but eventually start asking, “Um, where is all the poo going?” So,no energy is “free” in the physical sense, right? So what exactly is being sacrificed to make all this free energy? My WAG would be mass converted into energy, for as far as we know E still equals mc^2 ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995/40 "2014-01-30T19:20:04Z")
15kW you say? That’s not bad, with some tinkering it could be turned into a taser-like device that chars people nice and crispy. A backpack full of them probably gets you a pretty mean laser rifle. A 747 will probably be able to stay in the air indefinitely while erasing targets off the map with a laser cannon. Those [rail guns](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54aLcC3G74) they’ve been trying to make for ships might finally become a reality. The first thing the people who got their hands on the cubes would do is weaponize them. Step two will likely be trying to prevent or control other nations getting their hands on them. It would probably work out in the end, but we’d be in for some interesting times initially. I suspect sci-fi literature would get a pretty big boost too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-unlimited-energy-is-here-now-what/679995.md?page=3)