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One could argue that the only energy sources that aren't doing this somehow are geothermal and nuclear.
by mumblemumble 4y ago
One could argue that the only energy sources that aren't doing this somehow are geothermal and nuclear.
- stephen_g 4y agoThat’s not correct - nuclear power plants only have efficiencies of about 33-37%, so 63 to 67% of the energy that nuclear reaction is producing is dumped into the atmosphere which wouldn’t have otherwise (obviously there would have otherwise still been some radioactive decay of the material in the ground if it wasn’t used as nuclear fuel, but nothing like refining it and bringing it to a critical mass in a reactor). Meanwhile, 100% of the energy that a solar panel receives (and radiates some back as heat) would have hit the earth anyway.