The United States depends on a finite resource: fossil fuels. Easily accessible deposits of fossil fuels are dwindling, prompting stakeholders on both sides of the aisle to innovate and present options that either prolong the usage of our current energy sources, or harness renewable resources to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases. Firmly backed by the President of the United States and top research institutions, solar energy, specifically converting light energy into liquid fuels, warrants discussion. However, solar breakthroughs generate questions, such as how a solar-powered country would operate while the sun is obscured or how cost-effective it would be to route solar derived power from ideal locations on the west coast to the less optimal
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He argues that executing a "macroscience" effort toward solar liquid fuels holds the prospect of appreciably addressing the energy crisis, with a small opportunity cost. The Department of Energy renewed The Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center’s (ANSER) original $19 million grant for an additional $15.2 million over the next four years to give this technology a competitive advantage against subsidies that keep the prices of fossil fuels down (Faunce, 2013). However, the debate on whether it is ethical to allow patents over any part of the photosynthetic process illuminates one policy issue likely to cause excessive patents that add the cost of negotiating contracts, reducing the funds allotted toward research, and prototyping. This problem necessitates governance principles such as creating the proposed UNESCO Declaration on the Bioethics and Human Rights of Natural and Artificial Photosynthesis which hypothesized that widespread public and environmental benefits may term this technology “the moral culmination of nanotechnology,” providing practical steps toward governing and implementation (Faunce,
He argues that executing a "macroscience" effort toward solar liquid fuels holds the prospect of appreciably addressing the energy crisis, with a small opportunity cost. The Department of Energy renewed The Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center’s (ANSER) original $19 million grant for an additional $15.2 million over the next four years to give this technology a competitive advantage against subsidies that keep the prices of fossil fuels down (Faunce, 2013). However, the debate on whether it is ethical to allow patents over any part of the photosynthetic process illuminates one policy issue likely to cause excessive patents that add the cost of negotiating contracts, reducing the funds allotted toward research, and prototyping. This problem necessitates governance principles such as creating the proposed UNESCO Declaration on the Bioethics and Human Rights of Natural and Artificial Photosynthesis which hypothesized that widespread public and environmental benefits may term this technology “the moral culmination of nanotechnology,” providing practical steps toward governing and implementation (Faunce,