Post #991827

2026-04-04 11:58 UTC

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).

Replies (4)

@drmikepj@mastodon.social 2026-04-04 11:58

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!

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@woollypigs@sudomakecake.com 2026-04-04 12:27

@drmikepj I heard one podcast talking about recycling the solar panels and lithium batteries. One reason why there aren't big infrastructure to do so now is that these things have a life span of 20+ years. So not enough old stuff laying around to be recycled yet to make it a business.

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@alister@hachyderm.io 2026-04-04 16:39

@drmikepj Yep, Solar and wind is totally unsustainable - like a toaster. You made some toast, and now you have to buy a whole new toaster because you destroyed the old toaster by making breakfast yesterday.

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@misingtale@mastodon.social 2026-04-04 18:55

@drmikepj it's sad that people are so addicted to inhaling dinosaurs. And mostly renewable are mainly recyclable unlike the alternative. To quote Robert Llewellyn. Show me litre of recycled diesel...

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