The Things I Think About… Manufacturing 2.0: The Economy And You
Everyday new research in the fields of nanotechnology and synthetic biology, among many others, bring us closer to huge shifts in how we manufacture many of the goods and products we use on a daily basis. Sure, it won’t be anytime soon that we have goodies like universal molecular assemblers that can produce any structure we can give it a blueprint for. And while we could see synthetic biology bring us industrial scale biofuel production in the next several years, it could be multiple decades before the technology is applied to manufacturing complex structures of molecules and polymers. But I find it interesting to think about the implications.
In the near term, if the promise of synthetic organisms which turn carbon dioxide into octane and coal into methane comes to pass, we may have solved most of our energy problems. This one move forward will eventually come to be known as a baby step in the field of synthetic biology. But it could take a major cut out of the cost of energy at the same time as providing a way to offset the emissions produced in the burning of the fuels. Lower cost of energy results in lower cost of manufacturing which translates into lower cost of goods (or higher profit margins! *bah dum, chhh*).
And not to mention, as we move toward a society even more permeated by electronics, we’ll need fewer and fewer physical goods. While it has been a long time coming, eventually there will be a technology which properly replaces paper. A big portion of the pulp product industry could literally go down the…well you know. And these electronics are sipping fewer and fewer watts each day. That’s a huge contributor to lowering costs—simple energy conservation.
But further out—fifty, a hundred or more years down the line—what happens as technological advances in all fields bring us closer to dropping the cost of energy close to zero? Solar, tidal, wind, bio…fuel. Energy, energy everywhere. Now combine that with manufacturing techniques which could literally pull much of the material necessary for producing goods straight out of thin air—that’s right, carbon dioxide to use in the production of carbon polymers. Graphene for our electronics, nanotubes for durable structures…
As I’ve said, these technologies won’t come to their full potential for many decades, potentially centuries, but their implications could be huge. The future could bring us a world where it costs nothing to make anything. Realistically, we’ve got the same constraints we’ve always had. We’re still limited by what energy and raw materials we can pull from our environment. But the solar system has this wonderful nuclear oven called the sun that puts out massive amounts of energy. And if we run out of materials here on Earth, there’s always the asteroid belt.
So thinking way out—way, way out—into the future, assuming the technology comes to pass, my questions are… What are the implications of being able to manufacturing anything at no cost? How does the economy change? Does our entire economy become based on intellectual property? Will the open source and collaborative communities provide a truly free world in all senses of the word?
I have my own thoughts on how to begin answering these questions, but, of course, they’re only beginnings. Only time will tell and we have a lot left to learn in the mean time. But I am interested in what you come up with in answer to these questions. Leave a comment and let me know!
Tags: Biology, Economics, Open Source, Philosophy, Technology, The Future
January 25th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Hey Randy… I wonder, in your writing experiences, haven’t you ever used ‘paragraphs’?? One superlong article is tough to read when there are no visual breaks… sorta like trying to read a mile long sentence…
Happy Sunday buddy…
January 25th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hah, I hadn’t even noticed that the paragraphs had disappeared. Something must have happend on the backend when I was editing. I’ll get the paragraph breaks put back in!
January 26th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Kudos Randy, much easier on the eyes.
Life’s good buddy.
check out your ‘Recent Comments’ I am listed 3 times…
March 6th, 2009 at 3:40 am
Nice blog Randy, looks pretty slick