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For all our focus on the indirect costs in coal, there seems to be willful ignorance about the environmental impact of Chinese solar panels. Sure, you can get s
by alexanderstears 9y ago
For all our focus on the indirect costs in coal, there seems to be willful ignorance about the environmental impact of Chinese solar panels. Sure, you can get solar panels from countries with more environmental oversight but that's going to impact the payoff curve.
It's a shame that the focus is on conservation - energy abundance is better for humanity.
- thaumaturgy 9y agoHuman civilization has always made concessions in the name of progress, and as we've progressed, the concessions we're willing to make have changed. There certainly are environmental (and human) costs associated with producing electricity from solar energy, but the costs between that and coal production and combustion are not exactly the same. I hope there will be a day when the production of conventional PV will be a concession we're no longer willing to make because something even better has been developed. In the meantime, in a discussion about the socialized costs of coal and whether that's being fairly factored into arguments about its price, I think "but solar..." is a bit of a red herring. Relevant, but only barely.
- alexanderstears 9y agobut the costs between that and coal production and combustion are not exactly the same. And what are they in favor of? Coal? Solar?