alt Hacker NewsOn aluminum, the author says:
> “renewables” cannot provide the stable current and carbon atoms needed to make the process possible
This is untrue. Iceland has a huge aluminum industry, using mainly geothermal power: https://energytransition.org/2023/03/geothermal-iceland-this...
Iceland alone accounts for 1/10th of global aluminum production! https://www.riotinto.com/en/operations/iceland/isal
You do need constant, reliable power, as even a brief interruption makes a huge mess when the aluminum/slag freezes in the processor.
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Iceland is a tiny country with unusual amounts of energy. Not all renewable sources are the same -- hydropower is fairly reliable too, for example -- but Iceland is just not a useful example for the whole world. The largest geothermal plant in the world by far is in California, but it's a small portion of our total energy use so no one cares. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geysers
Hydro power as well, and usually they put the smelter rather close to the power source to minimize transmission.
But maybe we're still low on copper, IDK, but making aluminum should be rather possible.
> You do need constant, reliable power, as even a brief interruption makes a huge mess when the aluminum/slag freezes in the processor
On the other hand: it has a gigantic thermal mass. Combine this with the energy requires to melt it, and you end up with molten aluminium being trucked over our highways [0]. A brief interruption isn't a big deal when it takes ages to solidify.
[0]: https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/3h6r2e/this_truck_car...