TL;DR

using/generating energy always emits heat as waste and there is an upper limit of efficiency that we are not that far from. if that energy was generated via something that is not a natural heat gradient for the earth’s surface there is a net increase of heat in the earth system simply by generating and using energy.

a lot of energy sources fall into this: fossil fuel, nuclear, geothermal, etc. two that don’t are (certain types of) solar and wind, since their energy would eventually be dissipated onto earth’s surface whether we intercept or not.

that waste heat is currently estimated to be ~2% of the heating power caused by global warming, so already significant. we essentially have an upper limit on sustainable energy usage on earth (and therefore an avg per person usage) or we will have Global Warming 2: Waste Heat Boogaloo.

  • dxdydz@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    There is an EXCELLENT physics text book freely available that focuses on the physics of energy sources: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9js5291m

    It’s by Tom Murphy of “Do the Math” fame. Basically, unlimited perpetual growth runs afoul of basic physical limitations in shockingly short timeframes.