Essential Cost

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This is the cost measured by the energy required to produce something. Energy acts upon matter, intermediated by information - to produce goods and services. If information is free, then just about anything in the world can be produced at around 1-10 cents per kilogram, which is the cost of a kilowatt-hour of energy. For example, steel is about 6 kWhrs [1], and concrete is 1/3 kWhr. If the cost of solar energy is 1.2 Cents per kWhr, then the essential cost of materials cost is low.