Center For Accountability In Science - Greenwashing: Solar Panels
Curbing carbon emissions has been a top priority for environmentalists in the past few decades. Activists have urged businesses and governments to pursue alternative energy sources spurring investments in several forms of renewable energy. But not all alternatives are created equal.
Solar power advocates act as though carbon-free energy is literally pouring from the sky without consequence, but the reality is that collecting solar energy is not as simple or clean as it may seem.
The most glaring problem with solar power is that it is not a viable alternative to fossil fuels. A football field covered in solar panels struggles to power more than a few homes because solar power is not efficient or dependable. The sun is not in the sky 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Even in places where the sunlight is less impacted by seasonal changes, cloudy days still limit the amount of power solar panels can generate. The newest solar panels on the market have an average efficiency ranging from 15 to 20 percent.
On their own, solar panels cannot provide the amount of electricity needed to power the current standard of living in most countries. Because of this fact, many solar panels must be backed up by fossil fuels or batteries.
Currently, scientists are still striving to develop batteries large enough to fill the role of the back-up power source. While that technology could be just around the corner, the resources needed to create these batteries have their own harsh effects on the environment. Batteries are made from rare earth metals which are a.) not renewable and b.) toxic to the environment and the people who harvest them.
The process of gathering the rare earth metals and combining them to produce batteries is very energy-intensive, meaning many fossil fuels are needed in the production of each battery. Most rare-earth production and processing occurs in China, where environmental standards leave a lot to be desired.
Even if the efficiency problems are absolved and cleaner battery alternatives are invented, there is still a problem of space. Solar panel fields require a lot of space......
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