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Solar photovoltaic panels, whose operating life is 20 to 30 years, lose productivity over time. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were about 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste in the world at the end of 2016 and that this figure would definitely increase. Solar panels contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. 3
In November 2016, Japan’s Environment Ministry issued a warning that the amount of solar panel waste Japan produces each year is likely to increase from 10,000 to 800,000 tons by 2040, and the country has no plan for safely disposing of it. 4 A recent report found that it would take 19 years for Toshiba Environmental Solutions to finish recycling all of the solar waste Japan produced by 2020. By 2034, the annual waste production will be 70 to 80 time larger than that of 2020. 5
China has more solar power plants than any other country, operating roughly twice as many solar panels as the United States and also has no plan for the disposal of the old panels. In China, there could be 20 million metric tons of solar panel waste, or 2,000 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower by 2050. 4
California, another world leader in deploying solar panels, likewise has no plan for disposal, despite its boast of environmental consciousness. Only Europe requires solar panel manufacturers to collect and dispose of solar waste at the end of their useful lives.
Another issue: according to federal data, building solar panels significantly increases emissions of nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), which is 17,200 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas over a 100 year time period. NF3 emissions increased by 1,057 percent over the last 25 years. In comparison, US carbon dioxide emissions only increased by about 5 percent during that same time period. 4
Speaking of California, the state has just decrees that in all new housing construction Starting in 2020 will require solar panels .
Vermont which has it’s own goal of 90% renewable energy by 2050 will be faced with perhaps a very perplexing problem of disposal when the service life of hundreds of thousands of solar panels comes to an end at the very same time.
Since today’s millennials will be in their fifties and sixties (assuming they’ve reach adulthood by then) it would be interesting to see what solutions they come up with.
For myself I hope to be long gone before the the coming collapse of Western civilization.
As they say “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.
In going back to the version I was used to I lost my last two posts.
Moral of the story is… “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Burlington is strictly minor league…but perhaps someday.
from Paul Joseph Watson.