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Solar power harms both the environment & people—especially people with lower incomes.
I say this as someone who championed solar for over two decades. I thought I was helping to protect the environment, but I was wrong.
Some more reasoning behind this picture 🧵👇
I say this as someone who championed solar for over two decades. I thought I was helping to protect the environment, but I was wrong.
Some more reasoning behind this picture 🧵👇
2/ Evaluating the environmental and social impact of solar panels requires weighing the costs and benefits, & accounting for all the social & environmental costs of mining, manufacturing, installing, operating, and disposing of the solar panels.
3/ Solar panels are manufactured using minerals, toxic chemicals, and fossil fuels. In fact, solar panels require 10 times the minerals to deliver the same quantity of energy as a natural gas plant. Quartz, copper, silver, zinc, aluminum, and other rare earth minerals are mined.
4/ Solar panels take an enormous amount of energy to manufacture, & that energy typically comes from fossil fuels.
Nearly 80% of solar cells are manufactured in China where weak environmental regulations prevail & lower production costs are fueled by coal & cheap labor.
Nearly 80% of solar cells are manufactured in China where weak environmental regulations prevail & lower production costs are fueled by coal & cheap labor.
5/ Nearly 50% of the global supply of the polysilicon used in solar panels has been coming from China’s Xinjiang province, where hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs are working in slave labor conditions.
6/ Solar farms take up a lot of land and involve bulldozing wildlife habitat on a massive scale and replacing it with concrete and steel.
A solar farm needs 75 times more land than a nuclear power plant to produce the same amount of electricity.
A solar farm needs 75 times more land than a nuclear power plant to produce the same amount of electricity.
7/ Rooftop solar installations could sidestep some of the problems of solar farms, but they have problems of their own.
8/ Many buildings are not suitable for rooftop solar.
Rooftop installations are typically exposed to less direct sunlight due to local weather patterns, shade from surrounding trees, the orientation of a building (often not angled toward the sun), or the pitch of the roof.
Rooftop installations are typically exposed to less direct sunlight due to local weather patterns, shade from surrounding trees, the orientation of a building (often not angled toward the sun), or the pitch of the roof.
9/ Rooftop solar installations are cost-prohibitive—especially for lower-income families.
The average cost in 2021 to buy and install rooftop solar panels on a home in the U.S. was $20,474.
The average cost in 2021 to buy and install rooftop solar panels on a home in the U.S. was $20,474.
10/ Solar power is unreliable. Solar panels produce electricity about 20% of the time because the sun doesn’t always shine.
For every 1 megawatt of solar installed there needs to be 1 megawatt of fossil fuels (usually natural gas) as backup capacity.
For every 1 megawatt of solar installed there needs to be 1 megawatt of fossil fuels (usually natural gas) as backup capacity.
11/ Solar power causes unnecessary air pollution because it relies on fossil fuel power plants to ramp up and down quickly and backup diesel generators to meet energy shortfalls.
12/ Some people theorize that we will eventually be able to store surplus solar energy in batteries, but the reality is batteries cost 200X more than the cost of natural gas to solve energy storage at scale.
Making batteries also requires lots of mining, hydrocarbons, & energy.
Making batteries also requires lots of mining, hydrocarbons, & energy.
13/ Solar panels last only about 20 to 25 years. And they are difficult to recycle because they’re made with toxic chemicals.
Global solar panel waste is estimated to reach 78 million metric tons by 2050–the equivalent of throwing away nearly 60 million Honda Civic cars.
Global solar panel waste is estimated to reach 78 million metric tons by 2050–the equivalent of throwing away nearly 60 million Honda Civic cars.
14/ Solar harms more than the environment; it hurts people—especially the economically disadvantaged, who face a hard choice between paying high energy costs or suffering energy poverty.
15/ Households pay more for electricity everywhere solar has been mandated.
11% more across the 29 U.S. states that have mandates for solar & wind.
80% more in CA compared to the U.S. avg.
And German households have seen their bills double.
11% more across the 29 U.S. states that have mandates for solar & wind.
80% more in CA compared to the U.S. avg.
And German households have seen their bills double.
16/ The costs of promoting solar extend far beyond the U.S. & EU.
Energy is the foundation of civilization.
Access to energy enables healthcare, education, and economic opportunity.
Energy is the foundation of civilization.
Access to energy enables healthcare, education, and economic opportunity.
17/ Energy poverty leads to malnutrition, preventable disease, lack of access to safe drinking water, and contributes to 10 million premature deaths per year.
Over 3 billion people—40% of the Earth’s population—live in energy poverty.
Over 3 billion people—40% of the Earth’s population—live in energy poverty.
18/ You might think that wealthy nations with a commitment to human rights would take steps to alleviate energy poverty.
But exactly the opposite is happening: Wealthy nations are pulling up the ladder behind them and subjecting the developing world to energy poverty.
But exactly the opposite is happening: Wealthy nations are pulling up the ladder behind them and subjecting the developing world to energy poverty.
19/ The European Investment Bank & World Bank are restricting financing of power plants in poor nations.
The hypocrisy is mind-boggling: wealthy nations get 80% of their energy from fossil fuels & reap the benefits of prosperity from the low-cost, reliable energy they provide.
The hypocrisy is mind-boggling: wealthy nations get 80% of their energy from fossil fuels & reap the benefits of prosperity from the low-cost, reliable energy they provide.
20/ What We Need To Do:
End subsidies and incentives for solar & wind
Retire the dirtiest coal power plants
Build new efficient natural gas power plants (and hydro and geothermal where possible)
Reform regulations and build nuclear power plants
Invest in R&D
End subsidies and incentives for solar & wind
Retire the dirtiest coal power plants
Build new efficient natural gas power plants (and hydro and geothermal where possible)
Reform regulations and build nuclear power plants
Invest in R&D
21/ If we’re serious about tackling climate change, protecting the environment, and helping impoverished people around the world, we need to stop chasing fantasies about solar power.
briangitt.com/solars-dirty-secrets-how-solar-power-hurts-people-and-the-planet/
briangitt.com/solars-dirty-secrets-how-solar-power-hurts-people-and-the-planet/
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Adam O @denverbitcoin
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Nov 28, 2022
This a good thread