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The "source" is just a list of almost 200 publications, with no indication of which numbers come from where. So it's effectively unsourced. That means it's eith
by l0b0 7y ago
The "source" is just a list of almost 200 publications, with no indication of which numbers come from where. So it's effectively unsourced. That means it's either bullshit, terrible reporting, or both, and there's no reason to believe this over i-have-an-agenda.org.
I've got karma to burn, so bring it. But it really is time that reporters get their bloody act together. Without the research this is as worthless as an opinion piece, and it's not going to convince anybody who needs convincing.
- amirhirsch 7y agoThe fun part is seeing those ranges for silicon after having spent the last several weeks researching ways to decrease the energy costs of producing “solar grade” (one nine less than monocrystalline wafer) silicon from silica. There’s a paper showing 1.6kg of 6-nines silicon from rice hull ash in 6hours in a 50kw arc reactor (300kwh) (https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/gc/c5gc00622h#!divAbstract https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/gc/c5gc0...)
- rosser 7y ago> Furthermore, burning rice hulls to produce electricity and RHA, generates more energy than required for the overall process. I don't have access to the paper, but assuming I'm reading that correctly, the notion of burning rice hulls to power the process and thereby source their ash is a fantastic efficiency.
- londons_explore 7y agoThat lies between "silicon" and "electronic grade silicon" in the posted table, as you'd expect. Rice hulls cost something to produce too, and I bet you need a lot more than a kilo of them to make a kilo of silicon...
- dredmorbius 7y agoThe sourcing could definitely be better. The values smell about right to me (I've been exploring this space for a few years), and spot checks suggest they're reasonable. Alternative sourcing: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/embodied-energy https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/embodied-en... (Hits: timber, recycled and stainless steel, aluminium, glass, plastics.) Enough so that I'd be inclined to believe the values. Low Tech Magazine is generally reliable in my experience.
- l0b0 7y agoYou do realize that's several logical fallacies in one? "smell about right" "spot checks suggest they're reasonable" "generally reliable in my experience"
- dredmorbius 7y agoYou may have failed to note the alternative sourcing link provided in my comment above. Or my top-level comment linking ICE, in this thread.