3 ms·

Fair enough, I meant "non-renewable". I don't think that comparison makes much sense; available land limits the power, not the energy.

• philwelch 8y ago
  How do you store the energy for later? Lithium batteries? What makes lithium more renewable than uranium? Even so, on the long run, power and not energy is what matters. By definition, you need a net power surplus to build up energy stores, because you need to generate energy faster than you are consuming it, and power is merely energy over time.
  • toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Lithium can be extracted from the ocean cost effectively if we had to. It’s effectively limitless.
    • MertsA 8y ago
      The same is true of Uranium, we will never run out. https://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=4514 https://www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=4514
  • icebraining 8y ago
    > What makes lithium more renewable than uranium? Lithium doesn't get depleted. > Even so, on the long run, power and not energy is what matters. By definition, you need a net power surplus to build up energy stores, because you need to generate energy faster than you are consuming it, and power is merely energy over time. How does this contradict my argument?
    • philwelch 8y ago
      > How does this contradict my argument? You said that available land limits the power, but not the energy, available via renewables. If power is what you actually need rather than energy, that point is irrelevant, isn't it?