We all know disappearing ink as a must-have in any self-respecting spy's toolkit, but is it also a legitimate tool for energy conservation?

Xerox Corporation seems to think so, working in conjunction with research subsidiary Palo Alto Research Center to develop a resilient paper and printer that work in concert to save resources.

The paper, planned to be reusable, is to be paired with a specialized ink and printer. The ink on the paper fades within a day in response to light, and the paper is ready for reuse up to one hundred times.

Xerox is capitalizing on the familiar environmental principle of reuse, with the idea that reusing an item saves the resources that would otherwise be spent manufacturing another,  identical item for single use. Printing on the specialized paper requires only 20% of the energy used to print a normal 8" x 10" document.

Though presenting some interesting complications for contracts and legal documents, and loaded with opportunity for sit-com chuckles, the concept of disappearing ink does appear to have viable practical implications. According to Xerox, almost half of the documents we print are intended for one-time use, and with trillions of documents printed a year, the aggregate effect of Xerox’s new technology could be tremendous.

Read more at CNET