Ask HN: What currently impossible things would cheap fusion energy enable? - keenmaster
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api
The return of an upwardly mobile middle class?

I do wonder if the collapse of middle class growth isn't thermodynamic. The
countries that have enlarged their middle classes have done so by saying "fuck
the environment, we're poor" and burning cheap coal with no scrubbers. It
makes the air filthy and fuels climate change, but it is high energy return on
energy invested (EROEI).

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IamWilliam54
It's impossible to imagine all the things that would become possible if energy
was unlimited, and cheap. We could build a fixed link to the moon, and mine
the moon for minerals. The skies are the limit.

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ChrisGranger
The Moon and Earth don't maintain a fixed distance apart, so this wouldn't be
possible. The distance varies by as much as ~50 km.

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mrfusion
Heating roads to melt snow. Weather control. Desalination for farming use
opening up farmland in deserts. Flood deserts with desalinated water and
create new rainforests. Increase the spin of earth?

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ChrisGranger
I lived in Winnipeg for twenty-five years and often wished we were at a point
where heated roads and sidewalks could be a thing.

For the unaware, you _can_ get heated driveway systems, but they're somewhat
expensive upfront compared to paying a neighborhood kid with a shovel.

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giantg2
Fusion energy is very inefficient and I don't see it ever being very cheap.
Fission energy could be a good choice for many areas, but the way the energy
market works means that stuff like wind will always bid the lowest price to
the market.

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rasz
Faster global warming.

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admiralspoo
Flying cars

