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Re:Ask HN: What’s the most outrageous belief you’re confiden... by TradingPlaces on Thursday December 30, 2021 @05:55AM (#29735639)
Fresh water will become the most important resource in the world, and will be traded like oil is now.
Re:Ask HN: What’s the most outrageous belief you’re confiden... by autarchprinceps on Thursday December 30, 2021 @08:32AM (#29736562)
While I don't doubt there will be rising tensions over access to natural fresh water, I somehow doubt that it would actually be transported, at least on a global scale.

For that the sheer amount you need, the transportation costs, and the already existing, never mind the potential improvements in, desalination solutions are just too disproportionate in costs to each other to actually be at least exactly like oil today. It's more a problem of how expensive is it going to be to have enough drinkable water locally, then that it is ever cheaper to get from somewhere far away. Also depends a lot on the electricity prices and amount thereof we are going to have available.

Re:Ask HN: What’s the most outrageous belief you’re confiden... by gisborne on Thursday December 30, 2021 @02:54PM (#29740725)
This is probably completely wrong. It is looking like fusion power will arrive sooner than most people realize.

This will make energy virtually free, which will change _everything_. Think heating the open air downtowns of cities, for example, even in quite cold and snowy areas.

Is is cheap and easy to produce clean water, given abundant energy.