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MrMike OP t1_j6e3a43 wrote

Reply to comment by ejsandstrom in Green steel startup Boston Metal raises $120M for its fossil-free tech by MrMike

Right, but isn’t the grid continuing to get cleaner?

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[deleted] t1_j6eufby wrote

[deleted]

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magellanNH t1_j6fctzg wrote

New England, where the project will be located, doesn't use very much coal at all (usually less than 1% of generation recently). Mostly it's natural gas, nuclear, hydro from Canada, and renewables.

https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/charts

On very cold winter days we do use a fair amount of oil for power generation, but that's typically limited to just a handful of days a year when we can't get enough natural gas due to pipeline constraints.

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danielravennest t1_j6ff518 wrote

> Replacing coal plants will happen

For the US, it has already mostly happened. Coal has dropped 60% since 2008. By the time Boston Metal gets a full size steel plant built (about 5 years) coal will mostly be gone.

Over the last 12 months, renewables provided more electricity than coal or nuclear individually (not together).

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tjcanno t1_j6emp31 wrote

Yes it is, if you define “greener” as lower carbon footprint.

If you include the other externalities of “green“ power gen, then it’s not always so green.

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kUdtiHaEX t1_j6e4sy2 wrote

How? You cannot make something “greener” without side effects.

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danielravennest t1_j6j3as4 wrote

Gasoline used in my car's life (215,000 miles so far) - 25,000 kg. Lithium used in a full electric EV - 10 kg. One is much less than the other. Steel in both kinds of cars - about a ton each.

Electricity for EV to drive 215,000 miles in 22 years (my car's age) - about 72,000 kWh. US solar capacity factor - 24.4% (actual average output divided by rated panel capacity). Average power needed to produce that much power in 22 years: 372 Watts. Rated panel capacity needed: 1.52 KW.

Output per panel: 550W from largest US manufacturer rated at 585W but allowing for power loss as the panel ages. So you need about 3 panels. Panel Mass 34.4 kg x 3 = 103.2 kg. Much less than the car, and 250 times less than ICE gasoline needed.

So there aren't zero side effects, but a lot less.

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