3 ms·

I hadn’t really thought about it before, but this makes clear that renewable != clean.

• hirundo 8y ago
  Which renewable energy _is_ clean? Certainly not biomass as it exists. Wind power requires mining of rare-earth metals, 200x as much material per watt as a gas turbine and is an ongoing threat to birds, bats and the sanity of locals. Solar power has notoriously toxic manufacturing and disposal waste. Hydro horribly damages downstream ecosystems. There are probably some fairly clean niche renewable techs like wave or thermal energy, but not enough to run the economy. How bad are these kinds of renewable uncleanliness compared to nuclear waste? Honest question.