Science entrepreneur Justin Hall-Tipping has been developing new forms of nano-scale energy, with the conviction that the answer to some of the world’s biggest problems can be found in the smallest of places. In his talk on freeing energy from the grid, he discusses the possibility of generating “all the energy we need right where we are, cleanly, safely, and cheaply.” He explains how power can be generated from windowpanes by gaining “exquisite control over a building block of nature… the simple electron”. Hypothesizing that the power plant of tomorrow is no power plant, and that the grid of tomorrow is no grid, Hall-Tipping suggests that in the future, clean efficient energy will be free.
