zlacker

The same logic applies to energy I think. We don't have to pay money to a wind turbine, or to a coal mine. We only pay money to humans to build the power plants and the grid.

If I were writing a sci-fi novel about this I don't know how I'd handle something real estate (or mineral rights or water rights). You already need permission from the government to extract resources.

As for taxes, why does the government even want the money? What are they going to do with it?

>>jacoba+(OP)
Energy, ultimately, requires real estate --and thus property taxes-- even at the logical extreme of automation.

> As for taxes, why does the government even want the money? What are they going to do with it?

There are websites that break down how e.g. different national/federal budgets are divvied up in the real world. Alternatively, I suggest a good book on macroeconomics; I am partial to Steve Keen's "Debunking Economics", but there are many others.