People would be able to travel at bargain-basement rates. Yes, the cost of land vehicle transportation, which is so much of the focus in the press, would drop by 25%-35%. But, in addition, airline costs would plummet as much as 50%. With this would come increased commerce and maybe even greater worldly understanding, as more people are able to travel.

The world’s growing shortage of fresh water would largely disappear. A huge amount of energy is expended on the conveyance, pre-treatment, distribution and wastewater treatment. Energy represents 30% or more of a typical municipal water facility’s expenses. With free energy, water could affordably be produced in abundance through the highly energy-intensive processes of desalination, wastewater purification or even direct extraction of water out of the air.

Few in the world would go hungry. Today, energy represents roughly 30-45% of the cost of the food we put in our mouths. Farming, transporting, processing, packaging and retailing all consume tremendous amounts of energy. The price of food would drop and the availability of food would skyrocket. With free and unlimited energy, food could be grown affordably just about anywhere, given that water would be readily available and, where necessary, climate-controlled growing facilities would become inexpensive to operate.

Economic prosperity would reign. The correlation between energy consumption and standard of living is strong. Everything that we use consumes energy to be produced and transported. For example, energy represents roughly 50% of ocean shipping cost and 40% of aluminum production cost. Impoverished people would have more food to eat and cleaner water, their homes would become more comfortable, and the price of almost everything they buy would go down instantly, boosting their quality of life.