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by Gwypaas 1480 days ago
Now dig up all metals and other construction material used for the steam side and generators in fossil plants and make a comparison if that question is even worth to ask yourself.

Also consider that we will be able to recycle the materials used so the extraction should level off to only supplying potential market expansion and loss.
2 comments
concordDance 1480 days ago
> Now dig up all metals and other construction material used for the steam side and generators in fossil plants and make a comparison if that question is even worth to ask yourself.

Is iron mining and refining as toxic as, say, lithium? Particularly when adjusted for how much extra mining you have to do for a particular amount of end product?

Just throwing out factors to consider like you are doing (and I just did) is not very useful unless you also include some numbers for scale. Do some research and share.

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ratdragon 1480 days ago
I believe these types of arguments should start with "What about..." sir. Also not sure how we got to fossil plants...
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Gwypaas 1480 days ago
Coal and nuclear have equivalent steam sides. Well, nuclear often has even more complexity with separate loops with heat exchangers to minimize contact between the reactor water and rest of the plant.

CCGT turbines are a bit different in that they have turbine first, and then the same steam boiler to turbine setup.

That is why I ask. All generation from mechanical sources needs generators, they need control circuitry. Steam plants need boilers, cooling towers and what not.

Just wanted to point out that singularly focusing on "hurr durr renewables need to dig stuff out from the ground and not made using pixie-dust" is quite the irrelevant take since the entire energy generation industry shares so much complexity, no matter the source of energy.

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