4 ms·
Any use of energy eventually results in heat; that’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics in operation. But this effect is orders of magnitude smaller than th
by GlenTheMachine 5y ago
Any use of energy eventually results in heat; that’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics in operation.
But this effect is orders of magnitude smaller than the greenhouse effect.
- mcculley 5y agoI am aware of the 2nd law. I am looking for data on the magnitudes involved. Every time there is a promise of very cheap energy, I wonder how we will deal with the waste heat.
- throwawayboise 5y agoThe waste heat will be radiated away to space. The premise of global warming is that CO2 (and other "greenhouse" gasses such as methane) cause more of the heat to be retained in the atmosphere.
- mcculley 5y agoYes, I am aware of the 2nd law and the greenhouse effect. I was asking about the magnitudes. It is okay if nobody has any idea about them.
- seiferteric 5y agoThe magnitude is the same as current power sources that they would be replacing i.e. 100's of MWs to 1-10s of GWs. The amount of heat being brought up would have to be about the same as you would otherwise be getting from coal, gas etc and so the same amount of heat would be vent to the environment.
- mcculley 5y agoThe claims about geothermal and fusion are that they will make energy ridiculously cheap. Won't we use much more if it is cheap?
- throwawayboise 5y agoMaybe, but what it will do first is replace our usage of other more expensive forms of energy (fossil fuels, presumably)
- ncmncm 5y agoFusion will never be cheap, or used. Geothermal will not be as cheap as solar, so if we use a lot more power, it will mostly be solar. (Geothermal would be used mainly for baseline, at night.) Solar intercepts energy already arriving, to use before it is then re-radiated to space. It arrives regardless. So, no problem. What we have now is a catastrophically big unfolding climate crisis. Even if there were a problem, any small problem is a wonderful substitute for a catastrophically big problem.
- galaxyLogic 5y agoSeems that solar panels can work at night too: https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/arriving-soon-solar-panels-that-generate-power-at-night https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/arriving-soon-s...
- stubish 5y agoEnergy will only ever be as cheap as the government allows, because it gets to tax it.
- mcculley 5y agoThis assumes a more powerful or wise government than I have encountered.
- thehappypm 5y agoHowever bringing heat from in the earth to the surface (while not creating new heat) does increase atmospheric heat.
- tmorgan 5y agoI cannot vouch for the quality of this model, but I remembered I had bookmarked this tweet, having wondered the same: https://twitter.com/anderssandberg/status/1455287443184394244 https://twitter.com/anderssandberg/status/145528744318439424...