[extropy-chat] MNT and energy. (was Re: Social Implications of Nanotech)

[Dan Clemmensen]

Darn. I knew I would need to define my terms, but I didn' want to mess 
up Robin's thread.

When I said I do not advocate solar, geothermal, and sophisticated 
conservation using current technology,  I was referring to a purely 
local implementation.

With today's technologies, it is not cost-effective to retrofit these 
into an existing home in most cases.  There are of course many special 
cases, and new constructin will change the equation. In many case, it is 
quite cost-effective to retrofit simple conservation measures such as 
insulation and cheaper lighting.

"Cost" is a fairly good approximation for environmental impact. If I buy 
capital equipment to lower my energy usage or generate my own energy, 
the purchase price of that equipment represents a certain portion of the 
GDP i.e, of the nation's overall economic activity. But economic 
activity produces environmental degradation. I pay a workman to install 
my solar panels, and he uses the money to fuel his SUV, etc. On a power 
grid or pipline grid, renewables, solar, geothermal, etc may may 
economic and environmental sense.

Now, on to nanotech!

Solar and Geothermal: MNT and local fabrication is likely to drive the 
material capital cost to near zero, and may dramatically reduce the 
installation cost as well. This includes the energy storage system, 
convertors, and control system. Again, I'm talking about a standalone 
per-household installation. "geothermal" is really "geoheatsink" in this 
case: I'm using the ground or an available body of water either directly 
for cooling or as one side of a heat pump.

Sophisticated Conservation:
    This might better be called heat management. Most energy use in a 
home relates to heat. Heating, cooling, hot water, cooking, 
refrigeration, and freezing. MNT can provide near-perfect insulation,. 
It can also provide the materials for heat transfer systems within a 
dwelling that make the best use of energy, including counterflow air 
exchangers. If you already have solar and geothermal systems, you can 
move heat around directly rather than wasting high-density energy to 
produce low-density heat. You  use shades and evaporative cooling 
outside. You can store heat from the frezeer to heat a room, move cool 
groundwater into the refrigerator precool circuit, and generally 
minimize the extra energy you need to manage temperature. The capital 
cost of a comprensive heat management system is prohibitive with today's 
technologies, but it nearly free with MNT.  Again, a careful component 
design can minimize installation costs also.

In an integrated system, I can choose to spend capital either on the 
generation side or on the conservation side. I will choose the system 
that minimizes my material cost.