Coal is solar powered

[wopachop]

If the sun produces the energy to grow the plants that turn into coal, isnt it fair to say coal is solar powered?

 

[timselectric]

Everything used for power is stored solar energy.

 

[wopachop]

Sounds interesting. Even gravity snow melt? Or dipping a radioactive thing into water?

 

[timselectric]

All of the energy on this planet. Originated from the sun. Solar panels just let us easily access today's energy.

 

[webbbn]

Rain/snow is produced by solar evaporation. Radioactive substances are produced in supernova, so it's not from our sun directly, but from the power of an ancient star.

Where the energy comes from is not really important, it's how accessible/inexpensive it is, and what the effects/costs are converting it to usable energy.

 

[42OhmsPA]

It's fair to say my stoker coal stove is solar powered.

 

[Rednecktek]

If all the energy comes from the sun, and the sun is a giant reactor, then isn't everything really nuclear powered?

 

[Will Prowse]

Yes, most forms of energy that humans use on surface of our current planet come from fusion. But there is also fission sources of energy from thermonuclear decay processes in the core of the earth.