Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
Renewable energy does need need military protection.
Let's say we cover the southern US with solar and wind power, some how Mexico gets their stuff together in the next 50 years and becomes more aggressive.
With no military they roll in and take what they want, smash the rest.
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Apart from the unlikeliness of Mexicans developing such aggressiveness, even if they get very powerful. Why should they? Have the US invaded them and smashed everything? If so, who can blame them for evening the score?
But never mind that. Suppose they do want to smash solar panels. Those hundreds of billions of panels needed to generate all of the power the US needs do take a lot of time to get smashed up. Several thousands of Mexicans would have to spend years of daily smashing from early in the morning till after the lunch break and then again in the evening, and still hardly make a dent in the total capacity.
They could of course flip a few switches and have free power instead coming to them over the border. But hey.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
If you are so worried about radio active waste then what's the plan for all the radio active waste that comes up with all the rare earth metals needed to make all this renewable tech such as high efficiency mono and poly crystalline solar, high efficiency motors and alternators that use permanent magnets?
Do you have any idea how this stuff is usually mined?
Because what you are saying makes me think that you don't.
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Yes, rare earth mining does pose pollution risks especially without proper precautions and monitoring:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/boom_...ng_toxic_risks
The richer the ore, the easier it is to extract the rare earth metals making it economically viable and more likely that the necessary measures for safe mining are taken.
As luck has it Japan, which is otherwise naturally poor in raw materials, has just discovered quite rich deposits of rare earth metals.
Massive Japanese Rare Earths Find Means Less Dependence on China | Fortune
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