4 ms·

Possible, but you're only moving heat. You're locally cooling, but the net effect of AC is more heat. If a lot of that heat can get out of the atmosphere throug

Possible, but you're only moving heat. You're locally cooling, but the net effect of AC is more heat. If a lot of that heat can get out of the atmosphere through radiation, then we'll start to cool the planet. Greenhouse gases make that difficult.

mg 3y ago
the net effect of AC is more heat Hmm... I don't think so. Yes, operating a fridge in your kitchen will heat up the kitchen. And yes, if that fridge is powered by burning coal somewhere, then it heats up the planet too. But solar energy is already coming in the form of energy. It is not as if the sun is raining coal down on earth and we decide if we want to burn it or not. I would think the amount of radiation given of by a solar powered AC will equal the amount of radiation it takes in.
- tekla 3y ago
  You may want to retake a middle school education on "work" and "thermodynamics"
  - didgeoridoo 3y ago
    Before you get snide, consider what you are proposing: that 1W of insolation can cause >1W of power to be generated as waste from a solar-powered AC system. It’s pretty clear that this is not the case.
  - Eisenstein 3y ago
    > "thermodynamics" Isn't part of that 'the law of conservation of energy'?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- e_y_ 3y ago
  The basic principle of the greenhouse effect is that light from the sun hits the earth. Some of it is reflected out into space (because the atmosphere mostly lets it, some of it is absorbed and converted into heat. The heat can be radiated as IR but IR tends to get trapped by the atmosphere. Solar panels are all black. So from a very nitpicky perspective, the energy used to power the A/C creates heat that is not radiated in the same way as, say, having a giant mirror on your roof would. The heat is also released locally rather than being aimed at the sky. But from an overall perspective you are correct, because the alternative to solar is just having a regular roof which will convert some of the light into heat without doing any useful work, and because you'd probably get your energy from some less clean source.
- cryptonector 3y ago
  The Earth's climate is broadly stable (a random walk within certain ranges for hundreds of millions -if not billions- of years!) because of the water cycle. The water cycle need only speed up a wee bit to cool the planet if forcings get a bit hotter, and the water cycle need only slow down a wee bit to warm the planet if forcings get a bit colder. Condensation leading to precipitation radiates a great deal of energy into space. Clouds also increase the albedo, though at night they also block the escape of radiation to space from the surface, so this effect not as large as the condensation effect.

mg 3y ago

the net effect of AC is more heat Hmm... I don't think so. Yes, operating a fridge in your kitchen will heat up the kitchen. And yes, if that fridge is powered by burning coal somewhere, then it heats up the planet too. But solar energy is already coming in the form of energy. It is not as if the sun is raining coal down on earth and we decide if we want to burn it or not. I would think the amount of radiation given of by a solar powered AC will equal the amount of radiation it takes in.

tekla 3y ago
You may want to retake a middle school education on "work" and "thermodynamics"
- didgeoridoo 3y ago
  Before you get snide, consider what you are proposing: that 1W of insolation can cause >1W of power to be generated as waste from a solar-powered AC system. It’s pretty clear that this is not the case.
- Eisenstein 3y ago
  > "thermodynamics" Isn't part of that 'the law of conservation of energy'?
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
e_y_ 3y ago
The basic principle of the greenhouse effect is that light from the sun hits the earth. Some of it is reflected out into space (because the atmosphere mostly lets it, some of it is absorbed and converted into heat. The heat can be radiated as IR but IR tends to get trapped by the atmosphere. Solar panels are all black. So from a very nitpicky perspective, the energy used to power the A/C creates heat that is not radiated in the same way as, say, having a giant mirror on your roof would. The heat is also released locally rather than being aimed at the sky. But from an overall perspective you are correct, because the alternative to solar is just having a regular roof which will convert some of the light into heat without doing any useful work, and because you'd probably get your energy from some less clean source.
cryptonector 3y ago
The Earth's climate is broadly stable (a random walk within certain ranges for hundreds of millions -if not billions- of years!) because of the water cycle. The water cycle need only speed up a wee bit to cool the planet if forcings get a bit hotter, and the water cycle need only slow down a wee bit to warm the planet if forcings get a bit colder. Condensation leading to precipitation radiates a great deal of energy into space. Clouds also increase the albedo, though at night they also block the escape of radiation to space from the surface, so this effect not as large as the condensation effect.