Dear Evil Engineer,
Since our friend in Moscow moved on Ukraine, energy markets have been in an irresistible state of chaos. Do-gooders and villains alike see this as an opportunity to realign markets in their interests – whether with a shift towards LNG, nuclear, or renewables.
I have been watching and waiting, wondering about how to make the most of this moment. Given the abundance of government incentives for sustainable energy projects in twin pursuit of decarbonisation and energy security, I ought to make the most of those.
However, I cannot risk compromising my brand by investing in wind turbines, solar farms and other benign, tried-and-tested infrastructure. It would be more brand-appropriate to harvest renewable energy from a black hole. Would that be possible?
Yours,
A power-hungry villain
Dear villain,
In theory, it is possible. In practice, merely accessing a suitable black hole would probably take tens of millions of years.
Energy can be harvested...