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how exactly is oil distillation or its results "burning down our house" and how is that applicable to fusion tech?

htrp 3y ago
> how exactly is oil distillation or its results "burning down our house" Likely a call out to global warming. > how is that applicable to fusion tech? One thing that is never really discussed in terms of fusion energy is what you will do with the heat generated from these processes as there is a theoretical maximum for how much heat the planet can dissipate. Whether the poster is correct or not, its widely acknowledged that the ability to transition from gravity powered/wind powered energy to coal combustion fueled a great deal of the economic and technological improvements from the 1700s onward (we call it the Industrial Revolution).
- jurgenaut23 3y ago
  There are many more planetary limits than just climate change, and many of them are governed by how much natural resources we consume and, incidentally, how much waste we produce. Cheap unlimited energy will just make us push these boundaries even further. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries
  - eagerpace 3y ago
    We aren't bound to just this planet though. Not everyone has to live here. Not every industry has to operate here. Power doesn't have to be generated, or consumed, here.
    - jurgenaut23 3y ago
      Please. I know lots of folks here live in Silicon Valley and are breastfed with this kind of fantasy, but making our species multi-planetary isn't just a matter of energy availability. Plus, and most importantly, trashing our one and only planet "because we are not bound to it" is just one of the most unethical and most dangerous plan one can think of. And I know that there are plans to become a multi-planetary species without making Earth inhabitable in the first place, but I think the quote "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" applies beautifully here. And the fist of climate change combined with biological collapse will hurt badly.

htrp 3y ago

> how exactly is oil distillation or its results "burning down our house" Likely a call out to global warming. > how is that applicable to fusion tech? One thing that is never really discussed in terms of fusion energy is what you will do with the heat generated from these processes as there is a theoretical maximum for how much heat the planet can dissipate. Whether the poster is correct or not, its widely acknowledged that the ability to transition from gravity powered/wind powered energy to coal combustion fueled a great deal of the economic and technological improvements from the 1700s onward (we call it the Industrial Revolution).

jurgenaut23 3y ago
There are many more planetary limits than just climate change, and many of them are governed by how much natural resources we consume and, incidentally, how much waste we produce. Cheap unlimited energy will just make us push these boundaries even further. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundaries
- eagerpace 3y ago
  We aren't bound to just this planet though. Not everyone has to live here. Not every industry has to operate here. Power doesn't have to be generated, or consumed, here.
  - jurgenaut23 3y ago
    Please. I know lots of folks here live in Silicon Valley and are breastfed with this kind of fantasy, but making our species multi-planetary isn't just a matter of energy availability. Plus, and most importantly, trashing our one and only planet "because we are not bound to it" is just one of the most unethical and most dangerous plan one can think of. And I know that there are plans to become a multi-planetary species without making Earth inhabitable in the first place, but I think the quote "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" applies beautifully here. And the fist of climate change combined with biological collapse will hurt badly.