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Depends on the source of energy production - if we're drawing all our energy from solar and wind, then we're not introducing new energy into the earth. That's t
by beaconstudios 5y ago
Depends on the source of energy production - if we're drawing all our energy from solar and wind, then we're not introducing new energy into the earth. That's the problem with fossil fuels - we're reintroducing sequestered carbon into the atmosphere; if we were to burn wood instead and keep the carbon cycle in balance then it wouldn't be an issue. Nuclear energy does introduce new energy though, so that could cause issues.
- sudosysgen 5y agoThat's actually not true. If we use solar energy, we are reducing the albedo of the earth, thereby introducing more energy than otherwise. As far as wind, you are correct, but the amount of wind energy we can harvest is limited enough that there simply won't be enough at that point assuming that trend. Similarly with wood, at that point we would just run out of wood.
- zrobotics 5y agoQuestion-are we reducing albedo with solar? Solar cells appear more reflective than soil; I wouldn't think that albedo would be reduced unless we were putting solar cells over the ocean. Do you have a source for this, that's an interesting conundrum but seems counterintuitive. I would think that solar cells actually reflect more heat than they absorb, I have had to work around them and they act as though they reflect more heat than soil. If you can back that claim up, I'd be really interested in reading more.
- sudosysgen 5y agoPhotovoltaic panels exhibit Fresnel reflection, meaning that they are more reflective at an angle but very weakly reflective head-on, just like glass. According to this: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020EGUGA..2218924S/abstract https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020EGUGA..2218924S/abstra... , the albedo is of 0.23, which is a lot lower than the albedo of soil.