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xupybd

"This approach can be deployed far faster than dam construction"

Can we really manufacturer that many hot water tanks in less time than building a damn?

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One neat difference is that dams only provide benefits when they're done. Building a big dam takes a long time.

But with the water heater solution, every time a water heater is replaced, we get the partial benefits immediately.

Good point. We can accomplish a lot in aggregate if we act together. Building codes and other regulations should be paired with financial incentives from government to accomplish energy goals like these and other climate goals. Markets are bad at solving this problem and we need to take some of the incredible wealth generated by those markets and in those markets to improve society.

The same applies for nuclear power plants vs renewables.

Absolutely. DAM construction is essentially sequential. You can't build the top without completing the bottom.

Manufacturing hot water tanks is trivial and highly parallelized.

Thousands of manufacturers for parts, all of whom can contribute to the demand.

It looks trivial if you've never done it. If you actually try you'll see that manufacturing a safe, quality product at scale while turning a profit is extremely difficult.

Thankfully we have a large workforce with the experience to innovate in the manufacturing realm... oh wait.

We used to be world leaders and we collectively decided it was better for a handful of people to be wealthy instead. Excess wealth (>1 billion dollars is a nice start) should be used to improve society in ways like these and in many other ways. A society is great when it solves problems, not when people are wealthy.

It's explicitly addressed in the article. 10% of the water heaters purchased in a year would offset the dam.

That 10% is 1 million out of 10 million.

I guess the lead time on water heaters is short enough to hand wave a yes.

Hot water tanks are generally expected to last about 12 years. Some make it 40, but some die after 5. (replace your anode rod!) So we already make a lot of them.

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