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Can somebody with more understanding tell me if this idea I had is stupid or has some merit? Fusion will deliver an incredible amount of energy, making it chea

Can somebody with more understanding tell me if this idea I had is stupid or has some merit? Fusion will deliver an incredible amount of energy, making it cheap. Everybody then turns up their energy consumption since it costs nothing. Raise heating in houses, use AC everywhere, longer showers, more transportation, etc. All this energy eventually becomes heat. Can it get to a threshold where it can influence temperature on a global scale even if it lowers carbon emissions? What am I missing?

Vysero 7y ago
No the idea has no merit.
andys627 7y ago
Use free energy to sequester infinite carbon!
DennisP 7y ago
There's waste heat from our power plants today, but it's an extremely minor factor compared to carbon emissions. However, if we were to continue our current rate of exponential energy growth on this planet, we would boil the oceans in 400 years. https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist/ https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist... On the other hand, compact fusion power would make for some great rockets, so by the time it's common it would probably make sense to move most of the growth off planet.
Tade0 7y ago
Orders of magnitude. Total Earth solar irradiance is in the order of hundreds of petawatts, while total world installed power plant capacity sits in at a few terawatts. We're simply unable to measurably increase the amount of heat on the surface of Earth directly.
nnq 7y ago
> energy [...] costs nothing. Raise heating in houses, use AC everywhere, longer showers, more transportation Yey, can we get to this future faster?! Joking aside, all the current eco-friendly tech diminishes comfort by a loooot... we need low-energy habitats that are actually comfortable ffs. For example, traveling around Europe, I see that the new trend in the developed/western part is to shiver you ass out during the cold months and to melt your brains out during the hot ones in almost all public spaces! Like we're back in the pre-AC era! You need to get to Eastern Europe's bigger cities to enjoy comfy heating/cooling habits like proper heating in the winter (yes, I want my >25 C in winter!) and proper cooling in the summer (<18 C please!)... It's wasteful, but very much enjoyable! Snow fighting after/before coming out/in of a 30+ C heated house is bliss :D Same a blasting through an enjoyable heatwave after jumping out of a 15 C office and then back in. Life's little pleasures. After we invest so much of our lives in developing technology, we should at least enjoy the simple comforts and pleasures it freaking offers!
- thescriptkiddie 7y ago
  I have never understood this. Why keep indoor temperatures so warm in the winter? Everyone is already wearing warm clothes when they come in from outside, so why make it like a sauna inside? I'm already sweating before I can get my coat off.
- labawi 7y ago
  Are you actually serious and would heat your house in winter to a temperature 5-15(!!) ℃ more¹ than you would cool it to during summer? I mean - it can be enjoyable for short periods, to warm up/cool off, but why would you do that for extended periods, instead of going for a sauna or swimming? Do you wear coats inside during summer? If you are comfortable at <18 ℃ and at >25 ℃ (humans are highly adaptable), then why go for the opposite of outside temperature? You are probably doing yourself a disservice, making the outside temperature way less tolerable (adaptation takes time), and the temperature shock can be dangerous for less resilient people. ¹ If you are in a high humidity area, the temperature is not the only factor - you need to get the humidity to acceptable levels, which is often done via AC/heating.
stjohnswarts 7y ago
You should be far more worried about CO2, methane and other greenhouse gases than worried about waste heart because that is just a drop in the ocean compared to greenhouse gas issues.

Vysero 7y ago

No the idea has no merit.

andys627 7y ago

Use free energy to sequester infinite carbon!

DennisP 7y ago

There's waste heat from our power plants today, but it's an extremely minor factor compared to carbon emissions. However, if we were to continue our current rate of exponential energy growth on this planet, we would boil the oceans in 400 years. https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist/ https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2012/04/economist-meets-physicist... On the other hand, compact fusion power would make for some great rockets, so by the time it's common it would probably make sense to move most of the growth off planet.

Tade0 7y ago

Orders of magnitude. Total Earth solar irradiance is in the order of hundreds of petawatts, while total world installed power plant capacity sits in at a few terawatts. We're simply unable to measurably increase the amount of heat on the surface of Earth directly.

nnq 7y ago

> energy [...] costs nothing. Raise heating in houses, use AC everywhere, longer showers, more transportation Yey, can we get to this future faster?! Joking aside, all the current eco-friendly tech diminishes comfort by a loooot... we need low-energy habitats that are actually comfortable ffs. For example, traveling around Europe, I see that the new trend in the developed/western part is to shiver you ass out during the cold months and to melt your brains out during the hot ones in almost all public spaces! Like we're back in the pre-AC era! You need to get to Eastern Europe's bigger cities to enjoy comfy heating/cooling habits like proper heating in the winter (yes, I want my >25 C in winter!) and proper cooling in the summer (<18 C please!)... It's wasteful, but very much enjoyable! Snow fighting after/before coming out/in of a 30+ C heated house is bliss :D Same a blasting through an enjoyable heatwave after jumping out of a 15 C office and then back in. Life's little pleasures. After we invest so much of our lives in developing technology, we should at least enjoy the simple comforts and pleasures it freaking offers!

thescriptkiddie 7y ago
I have never understood this. Why keep indoor temperatures so warm in the winter? Everyone is already wearing warm clothes when they come in from outside, so why make it like a sauna inside? I'm already sweating before I can get my coat off.
labawi 7y ago
Are you actually serious and would heat your house in winter to a temperature 5-15(!!) ℃ more¹ than you would cool it to during summer? I mean - it can be enjoyable for short periods, to warm up/cool off, but why would you do that for extended periods, instead of going for a sauna or swimming? Do you wear coats inside during summer? If you are comfortable at <18 ℃ and at >25 ℃ (humans are highly adaptable), then why go for the opposite of outside temperature? You are probably doing yourself a disservice, making the outside temperature way less tolerable (adaptation takes time), and the temperature shock can be dangerous for less resilient people. ¹ If you are in a high humidity area, the temperature is not the only factor - you need to get the humidity to acceptable levels, which is often done via AC/heating.

stjohnswarts 7y ago

You should be far more worried about CO2, methane and other greenhouse gases than worried about waste heart because that is just a drop in the ocean compared to greenhouse gas issues.