Here is a summary I found on Reddit about the implications for our civilization if we really now have #superconductors that work at room temperature 👨🔬
It would pretty much revolutionize science and engineering as much as the discovery of electricity. Room temperature superconductors have applications almost EVERYWHERE in the realm of electricity. Some of the advantages would be:
Power transmission- We would have ZERO losses in power transmission. This would eliminate the need to convert low voltage AC from generators to high voltage AC thats suitable for transmission. With a significant decrease in vampire power wastage through resistance and transformer losses, our current energy sources would be able to sustain us much longer than usual, thus preserving the environment (provided the energy is from fossil fuel sources). So, in a way, we can say that room temperature superconductors help save the environment.
Transportation: With room temperature superconductors available, all of our railways, including public transit systems would be able to convert to magnetic levitation rather than electricity or coal powered. They would save energy during functioning and eliminate the need for fossil fuel powered vehicles.
Manufacturing electronics: If room temperature superconductors are made on an industrial scale, they would replace ALL wires in electronic circuits. Electrical resistance would undoubtedly be necessary in certain electronic components such as transistors and resistors, but if all wires were replaced by room temperature superconductors then power losses would drastically fall. Engines would become more efficient, computers, phones, motors and all other electronics would consume far less energy, and we'd be saving up a lot of energy if we invented room temperature superconductors.
Huge strides in alternative energy: With so much extra electricity on our hands, we would now be able to harvest resources more efficiently. Hydrogen economies would be possible, where we use the extra electricity to extract hydrogen from sea water and use it as a fuel, thus almost eliminating the need for fossil fuels. Research into other alternative forms of energy such as solar or wind would also become more viable, now that we have high efficiency generators and wires that have no electrical resistance.
Scope for scientific research would increase: Modern day science experiments consume huge amounts of energy and are thus quite expensive to maintain. Sure, the LHC costed many billions of dollars to build, but every time the LHC runs, it uses enough energy to run a small town. With all this extra energy, scientific experiments wouldn't be as expensive as they are today, and scientists would have enough energy to carry out their experiments. Plus, the energy saved could be used for other research as well, such as harvesting rare elements from deep within the earth's crust, designing and building space technology and finding out new methods of space propulsion.
Nuclear fusion as a viable power source would become a reality: If we had wires that could carry practically infinite amounts of current without heating up we would be able to build incredibly strong magnetic fields, much stronger than those created by the liquid-helium-niobium-titanium-superconducting-magnets that are used in tokamaks or experimental fusion reactors. With this level of initial energy density we would get a self sufficient thermonuclear reaction that could power the earth for generations to come. Jobs and employment: If all what I said was true, then we would have a HUGE market for superconducting magnets, starting from mining their respective ore, processing the minerals, manufacturing them on an industrial scale, selling them to the public and managing the whole process. It would create a huge demand for engineers, scientists, technicians, geologists, metallurgists, mathematicians, construction workers and people involved in management and business.
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1hp8wo/what_would_be_the_effects_of_creating_a_room/
