Hacker News Reader

Comment by bubblewrap | Hacker News Reader

Not yet, it doesn't. That's a pipe dream.

In the same way, you could claim we have no plastics problem, because we don't need plastic. That would be the same logic as saying we don't need oil because we could use solar power.

Maybe in theory it is possible, but it is not a reality yet.

And it is not even proven that it is possible, either. Solar power is not zero impact, either, it may just have a slightly smaller CO2 footprint than oil.

View on HN

Of course it’s proven possible. Are you one of those types that doesn’t think something is shown to be possible until it is already the entire status quo everywhere? At that point, there’s not even any discussion about its “possibility” because it’s the status quo. Solutions exist for these things and whining about how things are not yet ideal, how this earnest effort to clean up should be discouraged because it might backfire or how solar power might not be “proven” even though you can go out and literally buy solar panels (cheaply! And with quick energy payback time!) to charge your car with instead of using oil... ...this is not actually productive. Find a solution and do it.

You can buy cheap solar panels - cheap, because they are produced with energy created from fossil fuels.

You are hopelessly naive. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Yes, solar panels exist. That doesn't prove you can fulfill all our energy needs using them. And it doesn't tell you anything about their CO2 footprint.

There is also the tiny problem of energy at night, that has no good solution yet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com