The world is waking up from a long stupid slumber...

[NNadir]

28. Um, nuclear energy has the highest energy to mass ratio of any form of energy, by far.

If someone is really, really, really, really concerned about mining, they might do well to access the following scientific paper:

Closing the Infrastructure Gap for Decarbonization: The Case for an Integrated Mineral Supply Agreement Saleem H. Ali, Sophia Kalantzakos, Roderick Eggert, Roland Gauss, Constantine Karayannopoulos, Julie Klinger, Xiaoyu Pu, Kristin Vekasi, and Robert K. Perrons Environmental Science & Technology 2022 56 (22), 15280-15289

Here's figure 3 from the paper:



The caption:

Figure 3. Materials needed for different forms of power generation. Figure based on data from U.S. Department of Energy Quadrennial Energy Review 2015.

It might also be worthwhile to take a look at this article, not in a scientific journal, but illustrative nonetheless.

Data insight: the cost of a wind turbine has increased by 38% in two years

The reason for this price increase is appalling mass intensity.

I have argued that the uranium already mined, never mind the thorium mined and dumped in lanthanide mine tailings, is sufficient to power the entire world for over 150 years if converted to plutonium using nuclear reactors designed now to last 80 years.

Anyone who has a problem with mining should definitely have a problem with so called "renewable energy," the mass intensity, as the above graphic shows, makes its very name a cruel joke.