alt Hacker NewsIf we’re being honest, I think we should probably also include raw chemicals that would otherwise be used for things like direct heating. So for example, crude oil used for making asphalt, plastic, etc. or natural gas used for fertilizer.
Since replacing them would consume energy too.
That is a less obvious piece of math, but if we’re talking carbon neutral it would matter doesn’t it?
Another resource is sulfur. This is mostly obtained from desulfurization of fossil fuels, but without fossil fuel consumption that source dries up. Making it directly from sulfates could be done, but that requires more energy.