I Think I Just Solved the Climate Change Problem

[ZoWie]

The Problem

There is general agreement among experts in all fields of study that the greatest problem facing civilization right now is its tendency to pollute the planet's atmosphere, causing increases in greenhouse gases and driving up world average air and water temperatures. Only 1/4 of the way into the 21st century, it is now clear that the problem is real and worsening exponentially. Various solutions have been proposed, but so far all of them have involved either massive construction of new infrastructure, which compounds the problem, or cutbacks in energy use which would deprive developing countries of the same luxuries that the richer nations take for granted, thus creating more inequalities which cause wars, mass migrations, and starvation issues.

The Solution

Any meaningful solution to the energy issue involves the creation of positive feedback loops which turn the waste heat and excess gases generated by civilization itself into the energy which could power all of our inventions without the obvious problems caused by the overuse of combustion. Many systems exist that can recycle excess heat and gases into sources of energy that can hugely decrease the use of expendable resources while at the same time lessening pollution.

How We Get There

It is clear that we have overlooked one energy source that can potentially be used for almost unlimited cheap energy. That is the human output of what is commonly termed "BS," a vulgar expression comparing useless talk and exchange of half-truths to the excrement of the male bovine.

Right now, most of the world's BS is produced by billions of humans all banging on Internet-connected computers, generating almost limitless data which is transferred using a staggering amount of heat-producing digital circuitry. All of these billions of machines generate heat, and cooling the massive server farms that power this exchange of political and intellectual waste requires massive energy, sometimes as much as a small city would use for everything else. Meanwhile, the half-truths and personal attacks thus transferred by these less lethal means are probably all that stops violence from breaking out in streets worldwide.

If we can turn even a fraction of this waste heat into electricity, we will solve two problems at once. We will provide humankind with the means of exchanging BS on an almost limitless basis, while also greatly reducing the need for massive acreage dedicated to wind and solar electricity. Liquid cooling of these circuits has already been attempted on a limited basis by relatively inexpensive cooling loops in individual machines. The transferred energy, which is now wasted by various types of radiators which make the problem worse, is obviously a promising area for investigation. If we can develop means of exploiting this otherwise wasted heat, we will have the greatest breakthrough since the Industrial Revolution.

The greatest untapped source of energy is right under our noses, or at least our fingers. Energy from human failing is close to limitless, and could indeed power another revolution. Who will be the next Thomas Edison?