If we ever get unlimited cheap power we will just use it to dump vastly more waste heat into the atmosphere. Discuss.
Solar heating is on the order of 5000 times our current energy utilization (there's a similar amount of cooling).
Which isn't to say it can never be a problem, just that we are a blip right now as far as direct heat added to the Earth's energy budget.
From another comment: "Mankind's waste heat (~10^12 W) is utterly miniscule compared to sun's energy delivered to earth (~10^17 W)".
5000 smells bad — imagine that power output concentrated in cites or production areas — that would be severely noticeable.
Oh, wow, that's it!? We have MUCH greater energy utilization than I thought. That's impressive.
Our sole issue is greenhouse gasses trapping more heat than they should.
Disclaimer: I also don't agree with the GP's position
Even all the heat generated by appliances and devices in the world combined is actually negligible in examining global warming.
The problem is the greenhouse effect because that heat is a positive reinforncement feedback loop from where we get all energy ulimately -- the sun.
Both are correct in this instance (when replying to you I can't recall if it was the first post however I knew it was your parent / my grandparent post).
> Even all the heat generated by appliances and devices in the world combined is actually negligible in examining global warming.
I agree. Like I said, I don't agree with the original conjecture however it is still important to note that if one is only discussing waste heat production then the problem isn't just the generation of electricity. However the problems clean energy addresses are obviously more significantly other, far more hazardous, waste products. Hence why they're called "clean" energy.