• Question: How close would you say we were to developing a sustainable energy source of enough magnitude to eliminate the need for traditional energy sources such as fossil fuels. How do you think we'll be making it and what would we (as a civilization) would do with unlimited energy.

    Asked by Mike to Andrew, Angela, Eleanor, Emma, Withdrawn on 11 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Andrew Pidgeon

      Andrew Pidgeon answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      I would say that we are still a way off in developing something that totally moves away from fossil fuels. However I think that the CERN hydron collider and experiments like it are getting closer to determining a solution to the problem.

      Cost, safety and environmental impacts are also a huge challenge.

      I would like to see more reliance on solar power and storing the power that is captured into huuuuge battery banks

    • Photo: Emma Bradley

      Emma Bradley answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      So my company is working on a couple of things. We are developing a tidal power scheme in Swansea Bay which you could Google, and we are also helping to design a facility in the south of France which will house an experimental fusion reactor.

      When I look at these things I feel like we are getting closer, but I still feel like we are a long way off and it will be something that everyone will have to keep pushing for. Unlimited energy would be a wonderful thing, I personally hope we would use it to explore beyond our planet before we outgrow it!

    • Photo: Eleanor Sherwen

      Eleanor Sherwen answered on 15 Mar 2016:

      Realistically between solar, hydro/wave, and wind we already have all the technology we need to generate enough renewable power for ourselves, if we ploughed loads of money and political will into it. The challenge is making power for “on-demand” needs and the problem is renewables might make x% more than you need in a year but x% less than you need in the next 30 minutes. Fossil fuels don’t have that problem. We need ways of storing massive amounts of power, which looks like it’s many years off perhaps, and of making the energy grid smart so we can power down things when the sun isn’t out – that’s much closer and the technology is basically here for that. There are schemes where factories (high energy users) get a cheaper rate so long as they shut down for an hour or two at peak demand times.

      I’m not sure we will ever have unlimited energy, possibly fusion could give us that one day but I suspect there will always be practical compromises to make.

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