Plants do not harvest energy for free. Seeds have stored energy from the previous plant and plants have to use water and carbon dioxide to create glucose with that sunlight. That process is not “free”.  They need some glucose(sugar) to start with. 

Eximpius

bitcoin

if free energy really is a thing down the road....would that compromise bitcoin?

chovyfu

We already have free energy. Wind, sun, waves.

But it is not free to harvest it. Only plants can harvest free energy for free.

But animals and people need to hunt (spend energy), to harvest energy (in other animals).

A lion has to run to kill a gazelle.

People have to create and buy windmills, solar panels etc.

It costs energy to store energy. You can’t store the solar and wind energy after you produced it just like that. You have to convert it to say hydrogene gas or put it in a battery that somebody has to create.