Mike Prior-Jones1d ago
I’ve seen a few people posting stuff saying that renewable energy systems (solar, battery, wind) aren’t sustainable because they still need mining and processing to make them in the first place. This is disingenuous and seems like green purity-spiral stuff (and I have unfollowed one person posting it).
Show threadMike Prior-Jones1d ago

Embedded carbon is a thing, but the amount of energy used to make a wind turbine is dwarfed by the amount it produces, and at present the alternative is either burning fossil fuels or nuclear.

Please: the low-carbon energy revolution is here - don’t say it’s not good enough because it involves a bit of steel and concrete!

Show threadMike Prior-Jones
Solar panels are as close to being “sustainable” as is reasonably practicable: the frames are made from aluminium (which is made with electricity), the rest is glass, silicon and copper, all of which are potentially produceable without fossil fuels.
Apr 4 at 12:01pmWeb
Show threadMike Prior-Jones1d ago
Steel and concrete are both more of an issue (steel is made using coal as an ingredient, but can potentially be made with hydrogen instead) and cement requires lots of energy and emits a lot of CO2 during manufacturing.
Show threadLarry Garfield1d ago
@drmikepj Though there is active development on both green concrete and green steel.