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What kind of environmental impacts? Also, what do we do with dead solar panels? Is there a recycling program, or research going into such a thing? I'm so exci
by murph-almighty 8y ago
What kind of environmental impacts?
Also, what do we do with dead solar panels? Is there a recycling program, or research going into such a thing?
I'm so excited for this news and I feel like these are pretty minor cons though.
- phinnaeus 8y agoGiant batteries aren't great for the environment because they involve heavy mining.
- jerrycruncher 8y agoAnd have a one to two decade lifespan, at best. After which you have to dispose of them.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoThey are fully recyclable and aren't dangerous to do so.
- microcolonel 8y agoLithium polymer batteries are highly recyclable, they primarily just have to be unwound, possibly reformed if something structurally changes in the cathode/anode, and the trace elements need to be washed off and processed.
- jerrycruncher 8y agoMea culpa. Thanks for the info!
- toomuchtodo 8y agoLithium is harvested from evaporation pools, not mined. If you're referring to cobalt content, there are several researchers working to remove the need for that element from the production process.
- dnissley 8y agoI'm guessing they meant battery production, which requires the mining of rare-earth elements: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Environmental_Pollution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element#Environment...
- tedsanders 8y agoBatteries do not use rare-earth elements (as far as I am aware). You may be thinking of cobalt, which is expensive and mostly mined in the Congo. Reducing the cobalt content of cathodes is a big priority for the industry: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/06/09/cobalt-free-car-batteries-in-the-works-for-panasonic-tesla/ https://cleantechnica.com/2018/06/09/cobalt-free-car-batteri...