The idea in 60 seconds :

  • Fusion power may be as little as 10 years away.
  • When it arrives, in no time at all, energy costs will fall to near zero.
  • Europe has some economic problems on the horizon, notably a very rapidly aging population.
  • Those headwinds are likely to slow European economies.
  • Australia can avoid some of those issues with a well chosen immigration plan.
  • We should also develop vision for the future based on energy which, measured in current terms, would be considered free.

Fusion may only be 10 years away

There are dozens of companies working on fusion power. The technology is interesting (I won’t go in to it here) but the effect of fusion power is probably even more important. Fusion energy would effectively mean limitless, free, environmentally friendly electricity for anyone who wants it, with clear implications for climate change as well as the global economy.

Europe will face economic headwinds Australia can avoid

Germany and much of Europe faces an economic challenge which Australia can avoid. An aging population across the Northern Hemisphere is coming to a tipping point. The result likely to require Europe to confront some profound economic challenges over the same period as the development of Fusion energy – the next decade or so.

Australia, as an island with strong immigration controls and a long list of people who want to live here, is in a unique position (metaphorically. All countries are in unique positions geographically). We have the ability to import young, well-educated migrants, who will cost society little in education but who contribute a lot of income tax to Treasury coffers.

Developing Australia and accepting a lot of migrants

I’d like to see a bit of vision from the Australian government. I don’t think I’m the only one who wants that. A long term view of where we’re heading could unite the country and give us something to pull together towards.

We were prepared to spend $40 billion on COVID because it was urgent. Perhaps we should be contributing similar amounts to the development of technology like fusion which, while it might be less urgent is, in my view, more important.

The nature of the problem we’re facing

Much of Australia is desert. An unlivable red center. It’s worth considering, however, that we only view that land as unlivable and unfarmable because we live in a world of scarce energy.

At the moment, the land can’t be used for farming because the soil there lacks the nutrients and of course, it’s too hot. The chemicals and elements required to fix that problem are available in a number of places. Human sewage is one example which isn’t too hard to find. Gaps could be filled with farming fertilizers.

How would the center of Australia look if we had limitless free energy? We could pipe desalinated water inland to fill reservoirs, cool the air and irrigate farmland.

Australia could develop much of the bush for (denser) human use if we wanted to.

The soil in central Australia lacks the necessary nutrients at the moment to be used as arable land but there are ways to fix that if we decide to invest. China built an archipelago in the South China Sea.

Source : Microsoft image generator.

Australia’s economy could grow, alongside what will be the fastest growing economies of the world in the next generation or two. China and soon India who depend on our raw materials to support that growth seem set to be the places where real economic growth occurs in the immediate future. Instead of running out of steam, as an aging population curbs their consumer spending, as will likely happen in Europe, they (China and India) and we could continue to grow.

Government vision

Having a plan and a vision for the future which involves using Australia’s land resources, investing in infrastructure like roads, rail and power further inland and using new facilities like Starlink as they become available to make the outback more productive may well be something we should consider.

I’d love to see a vision from the Australian government which included developing some more of our land.

A vision of the future from the Australian government on developing more inland areas of the country with infrastructure in a world of free power could unite the country and insulate us against economic headwinds that much of the rest of the Western world is about to face.

Source : Microsoft Image Generator

This sort of vision and investment could help with the GDP growth as well as contributing to improvements in other problem areas of current government policy, including, potentially, the housing issues we currently face.

China has built its economy and huge economic growth in large part on brave, substantial infrastructure bets. (Alongside innovation, a favoritism for buying their own products “Made in China” and, according to the Trump Administration no small amount of Intellectual Property theft.) Why shouldn’t we?

unlike much of Europe Australia can avoid the economic headwinds associates with aging populations

Developing some of the outback using the benefits of free power would benefit Australia economically.

Source : Microsoft image maker.

Fusion, unlike COVID, is Important but not urgent

Shorter term we have an opportunity in the form of a productivity dividend from Artificial Intelligence in its many forms, especially, from a headlines point of view, Generative AI. This too would benefit from some leadership, which is part of the subject of my next article