Re:Caffeine Cranks Up Solar Cells
by mises on Thursday May 02, 2019 @10:18AM
(#19808133)
This looks cool, but I am afraid it could drive up coffee prices. That would be very sad.
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Re:Caffeine Cranks Up Solar Cells
by RandomInteger4 on Thursday May 02, 2019 @10:39AM
(#19808366)
According to wikipedia, caffeine can be synthesized, but is normally just obtained as a byproduct of decaffeination.
If anything would increase in price, it would be energy drinks and other caffeinated beverages. Price increase would probably be minuscule, as I imagine the demand for solar panels is dwarfed by the demand for soda and energy drinks,.
I think it will drive down the price of synthetic caffeine.
Maybe, but that is only because synthetic caffeine is currently not very competitive with the free caffeine produced as a by-product of decaf manufacture. The price of existing naturally-derived caffeine (and possibly the coffee from which it is derived) could rise, which is not a pleasant thought.