Even if cold fusion brings the cost per kWh to 5 mil, it will still make sense to locate floating photobioreactors producing agricultural feedstocks in the tropical doldrums protected by artificial floating atolls supporting beachfront real estate enjoying enormous amounts of electrical energy per capita. When that happens, the bottom will drop out of land prices and not just farm land prices.
The "jobs" will move to the construction of those artificial tropical paradise locations. I quote "jobs" because it won't be just jobs that move -- it will be technological civilization. The ordinary organizing forces of civilization around trade routes will be rendered impotent by the self-sufficiency of the atolls based on cheap baseload electricity combined with advances in materials science. People will simply move to their own 4000ft^2/family beachfront condo to enjoy the Seasteading Dream as a replacement for the long-dead American Dream. On Thu, Jun 12, 2014 at 12:31 PM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote: > Wind power is booming in the Midwest. See: > > > http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/06/the-united-states-midwest-a-leader-in-clean-energy > > > Quotes: > > "Wind now supplies as much as 25 percent of the power demand in Iowa and > South Dakota. In fact, the top five states in terms of wind market share > are in the Midwest, with North Dakota, Minnesota, and Kansas all exceeding > 12 percent. . . . > > Companies have invested nearly $10 billion in Iowa wind, employing more > than 6,000 people and paying $16 million per year to landowners. At the end > of 2012, the U.S. wind industry supported 80,700 such jobs, 30,000 of which > were in the Midwest. In fact Iowa, Illinois and Kansas are among the top > fives states in terms of wind-related employment. > > The massive deployment of wind has spurred a vibrant manufacturing sector, > all along the component supply chain. Building on a traditional strength of > the Great Lakes region, small manufacturers of mechanical equipment have > retooled to supply wind components, from ball bearings to cables and > towers. . . ." > > > This is grand and glorious. Unfortunately for the people working in that > industry, if it becomes generally known that cold fusion is real, the > bottom will drop out of the market. They will be the first to lose their > jobs, because wind electricity remains somewhat more expensive than coal or > natural gas electricity, when you ignore the costs of environmental damage, > people killed by smoke, and global warming. > > - Jed > >
