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Still we could have used the same energy for other things that are currently running on non-renewable energy.
by abiogenesis 6y ago
Still we could have used the same energy for other things that are currently running on non-renewable energy.
- SilverRed 6y agoCould we have? There is no way to determine that mining didn't create the demand for renewables that would have not existed otherwise.
- doggosphere 6y agoThat would require transferring the renewable energy to the areas where non-renewable energy is consumed. Energy transmission is expensive, and this would only be economically feasible within certain geographic limits. Otherwise they are both independent economies; a rural hydroelectric dam that serves miners isn't taking anything away from population centers, given the appropriate distance.
- abiogenesis 6y agoAre you suggesting that all miners with renewable energy resources are located in the middle of a desert? Even then, we could have used the equipment (solar panels, wind turbines, etc) for something else. Unless the world is running on 100% renewable energy it doesn't make sense to say that something that requires energy doesn't cost (the world) anything because it's running on renewables.
- doggosphere 6y agoHistorically energy production has always been near population centers, because transmitting is across large distances in infeasible. Mining and future energy production is not constrained by these needs. Miners can use satellite internet and be isolated in the Siberian tundra if they needed. What I'm saying is renewable energy is both cheap and becoming abundant. There is no need to fear mining consumption of energy.