• innermachine@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    That and there’s only so much gas, once we burn it all up it’ll take millions of years to replenish. Yea, you could say the same about battery materials, but those get reused for what a decade before they start to degrade? And the actual energy is free once we have the means to harvest it (wind, solar etc are all “free” infinite energy so long as we have the panels and turbines)

    • brb@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      Yea, you could say the same about battery materials, but those get reused for what a decade before they start to degrade?

      Isn’t lithium infinitely recyclable?

      • innermachine@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        I have heard that! But it’s on the consumers to ensure they get the old packs to a place that can recycle them. Just like with existing car parts I imagine the suppliers could put a big core charge on replacement battery packs to ensure the old ones are returned for remanufacture.

    • GalacticRobot@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      That and there’s only so much gas, once we burn it all up it’ll take millions of years to replenish.

      Umm, AFAIK, we actually can’t make more oil, so there isn’t going to be any more gas, just work harder to find what’s left. We absolutely should be moving to alternative energies to power civilization.

      • innermachine@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        When I say millions of years I mean the plankton and our decomposing bodies will eventually make some oil, but by then our planet will be gone anyways lol. I’m sure human civilization won’t make it to see any more oil produced

        • ebc@lemmy.ca
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          18 hours ago

          Pretty sure the conditions on the planet when oil/coal formed were substantially different from today. In particular, there are now various organisms which feed on the decaying matter that’s at the start of that process. These organisms eat that matter and emit CO2 as they live and breathe, returning the carbon to the air instead of burying underground.