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.

  • silence7@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Yes, but the amount of heat they’re generating is by definition no more than the amount of energy in the electricity. This caps the total waste heat impact, and means that for fossil-fuel-generated-electricity, their impact on the earth’s temperature is almost entirely a result of warming caused by the greenhouse gases emitted.