Mastodawn

Gerry McGovern Mar 6

Mining copper is environmentally devastating

In 1920, mining 1 ton of copper caused 30 ton of toxic waste

In 2020, mining 1 ton of copper caused 180 ton of toxic waste

Since 1900, the energy required to produce a unit of copper is up 16 fold.
The water required has doubled.

We need to mine as much copper in the next 18 years than in all of previous history.

In 2020, a data center might have used 5,000 tons of copper.

An AI data center can require up to 50,000 tons of copper

'Green'?

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Ruth O'Day Mar 19

@gerrymcgovern

Something I read about the merits of using aluminium as a substitute for copper start to kick in when the price of copper is three times as high as the price of aluminium. The author had no horse in the race, it was from a user's perspective of what to buy when starting a project. Like Einstein said, don't trust the internet, but this guy's analysis seemed solid.

It is at about that level right now, so, if he is right (even if he is wrong on the ratio, there is a ratio), in the near future there will be talk of aluminium-wired installations.

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Gerry McGovern

@RuthODay2 Unfortunately, aluminum has huge environmental costs as well. Bauxite, from which aluminum is mined, is ideally found under tropical forests such as the Amazon. One ton of alumna causes 1.5 ton of toxic red mud that is then dumped in open bits. In the Amazon, they killed an entire lake--Batata Lake--by dumping millions of tons of red mud into the lake. To turn alumna into aluminum requires massive quantities of electricity and can only be done in places like Iceland.