3 ms·
But how is it a good thing though. It's really not a simple "solar > coal". Solar has its own set of downside. And solar supply chain is heavy on fossil fuel ri
by lwouis 5y ago
But how is it a good thing though. It's really not a simple "solar > coal". Solar has its own set of downside. And solar supply chain is heavy on fossil fuel right now, so you may have the same burning of coal behind the scene to make that solar energy. I've read reports where it was actually worse than directly burning the coal.
Some people wave solar and wind like it's some miracle no-impact tech. It's heavy duty tech that impacts the environment at every step of its lifecycle, and for which even CO2 emissions are not a clear winner once you look at the full picture.
- caf 5y agoAnd solar supply chain is heavy on fossil fuel right now, so you may have the same burning of coal behind the scene to make that solar energy. I've read reports where it was actually worse than directly burning the coal. Those reports are incorrect. The energy payback time for a PV installation including structures, cabling etc is typically 2 years.
- stephen_g 5y agoReports that it’s worse than burning coal are ridiculous and incorrect. That wouldn’t have been true 10 years ago, and things are far better now. The carbon payback is months, and that will continue to reduce as more renewables are put in use (as the energy used to make panels themselves will be more and more from renewables). This will be the same with wind - first commercial steel made with green hydrogen (instead of coking coal) was delivered just this month. The development of that will have exciting consequences.