Post by JTEM Aluminum smelters are often located "next door" to
large power plants - preferably hydro.
Aluminum comes from Bauxite and is extracted via electrolysis.
You need a lot of electricity to produce aluminum.
Yes, a LOT.
But aluminum lasts a long time, so it's mostly worth it.
Post by JTEMThis is why it was an early adopter of recycling: It's
already aluminum!
Iron is also heavily re-cycled. It's already iron !
A *problem* with both are ALLOYS. Once you add some
magnesium/zinc/copper/vanadium/etc TO your metal it's
kinda hard to remove. You can't just melt down a truck
of iron or aluminum and expect instant useful product.
The aluminum in that Bud Lite can you're holding is
alloyed to be stiff and high-tensile, which is why
such thin stuff can hold in that much pressure. It
is also why you can pull that tab and pop the rest
loose from the the can. But the flip is that it is
brittle and not very fatigue-resistant - you can't
just melt some beer cans and use that for stadium
roof beams or a vehicle frame.
Likewise you can't use junky old high-sulfur steel
to build a ship - or you get the Titanic.
"Re-cycling" is only a half-right term here. Metals
usually require "re-refining". STILL less total
energy than starting with bauxite, but ain't "free"
either. X-amount of new iron and aluminum are also
needed yearly to add to the 'recycled' stuff to get
a good alloy mix.
Post by JTEMAlcoa had aluminum recycling centers long before you LeftTards
decided to mistake headlines for "Science."
Sorry, I vote red all the way this year.
But there IS such a thing as a 'ri-tard' too.
I'm beginning to think I've met one ...
Lower-efficiency power sources aren't necessarily
bad. Up-front and maint costs figure into the
equation. PV panels don't REALLY make the cut,
not quite yet except maybe on giant farms, but
they're close and there's posturing/propaganda
value in them. If they EVER get perovskite PV
cells to work right they will be cheap enough
to push the equation to the positive fer sure.
I've long been interested in the possibilities of
"low-headwater hydro" because the up-front costs
are very low. Indeed some rivers could host farms
of 'barges' with like paddle-wheels dipping into
the stream (paddles are better because they are
less likely to snag/jam than turbines from crap
in the river). With AI I'm sure ultra-efficient
'wheels' could be designed, indeed customized for
each specific use. There's a LOT of water always
running downhill - the energy CAN be used.
Oh, and you can use all that waste styrofoam for
the floats on the power barges :-)
Did ya ever see the Dutch trick for houses in
flood zones ? A float underneath and a couple
of 'guide poles'. If the water rises the house
can float up eight or ten feet, held in place
by the poles. The power/plumbing use flex
tubing. As flooding is becoming a larger USA
issue, again a use for all that styrofoam.
