Wouldn't it be nice if a team of Israeli scientists invented a way to create cheap energy that can be produced on a massive scale without pouring gook into the air by the mega-ton? This would have many benefits:
1. Save the world.
2. Force the Saudis, Iranians, Russians and Venezuelans to finally start being productive rather than pumping money out of the ground.
3. Since they won't (be productive), and also won't have any more income, the rest of the world will be able to stop cringing, bowing, licking boots, etc.
4. The Guardian will have to publish an article about how it was Israelis wot saved the world, even tho they're colonialist imperialist fascist thugs who mistreat the noble Arabs all the time because they're evil. (But the article will be on page 26, at the bottom, and the part about saving the world will be in the 12th paragraph).
5. We'll all be able to turn on the lights in our living rooms each evening without feeling guilty for drowning the polar bears and flooding the Bangladeshis, not to mention Manhattan.
6. The term carbon footprint will be taken over by a teenager rock band in Arizona.
Ah what sweet dreams. Well, dream on.
But your car will stop on a rainy day because the artificial leaves can't photosynthesize?
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I think the next step is inventing a revolutionary way to store energy really efficiently.
I liked the post by the way.
Please thumb your nose when you turn on your living room light.
:-)
The cars will all have leafy green branches, that's pretty obvious I'd think. The washing machine, too.
ReplyDeleteYaacov,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid "productive Saudis" is one bridge too far.
As to green artificial leaves, it sounds interesting, but I still remember similarly messianic excitement from 12-15 years ago about deriving cheap electricity from solar ponds, which, sadly, didn't go very far.
With oil prices nearing US$130/barrel, we're still years and years away from viable, cost-effective sources of alternative power, none of which, one must admit, will be as versatile as petroleum.
It may well be that it'll take the genius and ingenuity of Our People to make a breakthrough. If only we could convince all those talmidei chachamim, who spend 12-14 hours a day locked up in their kollels and yeshivas studying the Torah, to allot just a fraction of their time, and equal dedication, to the study of natural sciences and engineering... I'm almost certain that among those tens of thousands of 12-18 year olds there must be a future Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla or Marie Curie.