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The EROI for blowing up mountaintops ignores the externalized costs of the activity: water pollution, habitat destruction (and the loss of associated ecosystem
by schiffern 15y ago
The EROI for blowing up mountaintops ignores the externalized costs of the activity: water pollution, habitat destruction (and the loss of associated ecosystem services), damage from explosive concussions, and ultimately a locality that sacrifices its long-term health for a handful of temporary jobs.
And this argument even yields to the HN party line that states that the value of undeveloped natural spaces is zero.
- wlievens 15y agoIt's a bit cynical to call that "the HN party line". There's surely a bunch of hardcore libertarians out here who would hold that opinion (by which I won't implicate that any libertarian would) but I doubt it's a majority.
- Retric 15y agoWhen it comes to energy, I am vary pro wind power and feel solar/fusion are both going to be viable in my lifetime. However, EROI is a measure of the amount of energy it costs to develop an energy source which is both a simple measurement and poorly understood by a lot of people. So, while I dislike coal for a number of reasons, I do feel the need to bring it up when people get all doom and gloom over Oil.