Chris Martz writes on X:
Okay. Study this chart. Look at it real hard. Look until your eyeballs fall out of their sockets.
Materials requirements per terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity produced for renewables:
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
4,050 tons/TWh of concrete
7,900 tons/TWh of steel
2,700 tons/TWh of glass
850 tons/TWh of copper
680 tons/TWh of aluminum
210 tons/TWh of plastic
Hydroelectric Power
14,000 tons/TWh of concrete
67 tons/TWh of steel
1 ton/TWh of copper
Wind
8,000 tons/TWh of concrete
1,800 tons/TWh of steel
92 tons/TWh of glass
23 tons/TWh of copper
35 tons/TWh of aluminum
190 tons/TWh of plastic
Geothermal
1,850 tons/TWh of concrete
3,300 tons/TWh steel
2 tons/TWh of copper
100 tons/TWh of aluminum
Materials requirements per terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity produced for nuclear and natural gas:
Nuclear
760 tons/TWh of concrete
160 tons/TWh of steel
3 tons/TWh of copper
Natural Gas
400 tons/TWh of concrete
170 tons/TWh of steel
1 ton/TWh of aluminum
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/03/f34/quadrennial-technology-review-2015_1.pdf
So, tell me again how clean “green energy” really is? Mining for these raw materials would have to increase by >300% to achieve “net zero” goals, which would make that [arbitrary] target date by 2050 impossible.
Nuclear is by far the most efficient energy source we have, and it is the most “carbon-free” (and I use that term lightly) technology. Natural gas, while not carbon-free in the slightest, burns cleaner and is much more efficient than coal. If nuclear and natural gas aren’t a part of the “solution” to wane us off fossil fuels, then you, as an environmentalist, cannot be take seriously.