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by Schroedingersat
1355 days ago
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That only accounts for a small fraction of primary energy (about 300W Net). It also does not include all of the high level waste or its containment vessels and shielding (which are many times heavier). The mast on a wind turbine is inert and recyclable and the nacelle is fully recyclable. A 15MW or 10MW net wind turbine blade assembly is about 100t or roughly 4t/yr. At 300W per person that is 120g of fiberglass. It is fully downcyclable at positive roi. A solar panel frame is inert and recyclable, as is the glass. The part generating the energy which wears out is about 5kg for 400W (upper bound based on glassless hail resistant panels available at retail) or 1kg/20W net of mostly-sand for a 20 year life. This is 750g/person or a few times more than the uranium + storage facilities, but hardly prohibitive and fully recyclable at near break even cost (you can even turn them back into new solar panels without re-purifying at reduced efficiency). The glass is substantially heavier, but if you're pretending we as a civilisation can't have 30kg of glass per person, then I really don't know how to talk to you -- it's such a non issue that panels are rarely optimized for mass even though doing so adds very little cost. The low level waste and inert recyclable structure of a nuclear reactor is commensurable with the 1200t/10MW of a wind turbine and also the ten or so kg per 100W net of solar. The concrete holding up the wind turbine is substantially heavier. Solar requires little to none. Solar can coexist with other uses for the structure or land. |
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