The silver bullet men: Saving the planet with technology

At the hard end of those technological panaceas is the ultimate Holy Grail, ‘the infinite energy machine’. Not a year goes by without a wizened inventor claiming to have discovered one. Now, who wouldn’t be thrilled to know that an infinite source of free energy – like a fridge that never runs out of beer – can actually exist? Not surprisingly, many a gullible investor has been taken in by the prospect.

One of the most notable examples was the ‘Stoern Orbo’, launched with much fanfare in Britain in 2006. The proprietor’s boast:

Orbo produces free, clean and constant energy - that is our claim. By free we mean that the energy produced is done so without recourse to external source. By clean we mean that during operation the technology produces no emissions. By constant we mean that with the exception of mechanical failure the technology will continue to operate indefinitely.

Six years later and the jury is still out. Still not one Orbo is on the market, or tested to satisfaction. I’m laying bets there will never be.

Common to these hard-core devotees is a language that projects a golden future of plenty. Energy so cheap and bountiful that there would be no need to measure it. No pollution. No mining of fuel. All of this backed with ample statistics and charts and diagrams.

Amongst the more rounded technology enthusiasts is a simple starry-eyed outlook that helps to maintain an easy truce between the various enthusiasts – a shared belief that energy supply is the core of humanity’s problem, and the essential remedy is to switch technology.

Beneath the surface, though, is a veritable war amongst them for technological supremacy, each accusing the other of overstating the plus sides and understating the downsides of their particular technology. The most bitter feud is that between the nuclear guys and the wind energy guys.

Over the years I’ve learned to respectfully and patiently listen to all these guys, and try to understand their technological choice and their rampant enthusiasm. But I’ve learned not to try to contest their science too much, nor shatter their delusion. Nor ask probing questions, like: “If the technology is so manifestly solid, why has an enterprising multinational not jumped at the chance to make big bucks out of it?”

For one thing, it is not possible to contest the science – their belief is generally more about faith than it is about science, and who can argue against impregnable faith? And then…well, I am a bloke too…I have to confess to having an abiding fascination with technology too. So I listen.

In order to get to the bottom of this totally masculine phenomenon, we need to briefly go back to the time of the alchemists and see how that fascinating historical episode still carries over to the present day, when the dark old days of sorcery and magic are presumed to be over, where religion and science have parted ways.

Alchemy is an ancient tradition, underpinned by a belief that through science one could invent the mythical ‘philosopher’s stone’. Whoever found the magic formula would be capable of turning base metals (such as lead) into gold and that lucky inventor would also holdthe secret to the elixir of life – immortality and eternal youth. Through the ages many thousands of earnest men of science devoted their entire lives to this noble, yet fruitless, pursuit. They genuinely regarded themselves as serious chemists, though in hindsight we can see that alchemy was a curious mixture of science, mythology, religion and spiritualism. And so it is today.

Now, I don’t wish to belittle these guys, because they mean so well. And, for all I know, any one of them may be onto something useful. I don’t wish to appear arrogant and would dearly love to be proved wrong. It is possible to marvel at elegant new technology and still be aware of its limits.