Hi I'm new to this site and there seems to be a good few discussions
I had to register to reply to UncleAl's post, because I think he may be misinformed on a few subjects.
Firstly nanotechnology is something that is being and has being acheived, it will take more time and resources to get to the level where it can be true nanotech, so it isn't something that doesnt exist, and it is something that can be achieved.
Secondly, sustainable development is in no way Luddism, it is a practical approach to managing limited resources for long term use. Perfect example of unsustainable living can be seen on Easter Island where the inhabitants used every resource and ended up as a small collection of cannibals before being discovered.
Poverty: I find that a rather naive commenti. Take the 5million or so children dying in Africa on a yearly basis. Each starving family cannot make good their existence, no matter what responsibility you may think they have. Their responsibilioty is to feed themselves, yet they are not allowed to.
Environmentalism: clearly you either do not understand what it is, or how it works
Conservation: is the protection of a system, building, habitat, ecology, almost anything so that it is not lost to the world, either for aesthetic, scientific, historic, religious or any other many reasons.
Can "clean" energy be produced, absolutely, the return on even todays inefficient systems such as wind, wave, photovoltaic energy are greater than the energy needed to make them. There is a slow convergeance of technologies which will have dramatic effects in the future. It is because of the lack of political will or ignorance that it will take longer than may be necessary. Large companies are unwilling to spend money because they are largely concerned with their return to be within months rather than years so it is left to the fringe to solve the issues.
Whether or not something llike a manhattan project will happen, it is clear that there is a need for some form of efficient, economical, and sustainable energy.
An example of a sustainable resource that has been used for thousands of years and can be managed for thousands to come; wood
