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Most of the power in the US comes from coal. Solar is 0.4%: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 W

Most of the power in the US comes from coal. Solar is 0.4%: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 What do you do with the batteries and the toxic materials inside when you're done with them (and how long do they last)? What do you do with all the toxic materials produced during mining, refining, and production of batteries and materials? How do you deal with these same issues as they affect solar panels, which are made of silicon?

danhak 12y ago
> Most of the power in the US comes from coal No, that's not true. Most power comes from sources other than coal. Yes, coal is the largest single source but it is < 50% and decreasing every year.
- mtbcoder 12y ago
  Decreasing perhaps, but it's being offset by natural gas, which is yet another hydrocarbon and comes with its own slew of hazards and problems.
  - danhak 12y ago
    Methane is less harmful than coal by far.
    - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
      That's good, because the next century will likely be fueled by Methane Hydrates from the ocean floor.
kragen 12y ago
Are you satirizing some hypothetical ignorant anti-solar activism movement I've never heard of?
jhayward 12y ago
1. As already posted, no, coal does not produce most of the electric power. It does dominate other sources though. The problem with your rejoinder is it assumes the past, not the future generation fleet. Musk's goal is to enable renewable generation, eliminating coal. 2. There are no particularly toxic materials in the batteries. Landfills accept discarded lithium batteries as regular waste. While lithium is not currently economical to recycle, by the time the industry is as large as the lead-acid battery market (a very toxic product chain) it will be just as easy to recycle lithium. 3. What toxic materials are you referring to? I'm not aware of anything that stands out, especially compared to coal mining, or tar sands production, etc. Lithium mining in particular is a very similar process to the one that produces table salt from salt flats. The biggest problem is the use of water in areas that are very water-poor, ie the Atacama desert. 4. Silicon is non-toxic and inert. There are some hazards associated with dust particles during production, but those are easily handled by proper manufacturing processes. Perhaps you were thinking of thin-film solar panels, which may use e.g. Cadmium? They're less common and seem unlikely to displace silicon PV in the near future.
- hnnewguy 12y ago
  >*"What toxic materials are you referring to? I'm not aware of anything that stands out, especially compared to coal mining, or tar sands production" Water usage, along with the carbon emissions from the large diesel vehicles that are actually digging the stuff up.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    Emissions from vehicles are eminently fixable in the long term, with the very batteries they're being used to produce.

danhak 12y ago

> Most of the power in the US comes from coal No, that's not true. Most power comes from sources other than coal. Yes, coal is the largest single source but it is < 50% and decreasing every year.

mtbcoder 12y ago
Decreasing perhaps, but it's being offset by natural gas, which is yet another hydrocarbon and comes with its own slew of hazards and problems.
- danhak 12y ago
  Methane is less harmful than coal by far.
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    That's good, because the next century will likely be fueled by Methane Hydrates from the ocean floor.

kragen 12y ago

Are you satirizing some hypothetical ignorant anti-solar activism movement I've never heard of?

jhayward 12y ago

1. As already posted, no, coal does not produce most of the electric power. It does dominate other sources though. The problem with your rejoinder is it assumes the past, not the future generation fleet. Musk's goal is to enable renewable generation, eliminating coal. 2. There are no particularly toxic materials in the batteries. Landfills accept discarded lithium batteries as regular waste. While lithium is not currently economical to recycle, by the time the industry is as large as the lead-acid battery market (a very toxic product chain) it will be just as easy to recycle lithium. 3. What toxic materials are you referring to? I'm not aware of anything that stands out, especially compared to coal mining, or tar sands production, etc. Lithium mining in particular is a very similar process to the one that produces table salt from salt flats. The biggest problem is the use of water in areas that are very water-poor, ie the Atacama desert. 4. Silicon is non-toxic and inert. There are some hazards associated with dust particles during production, but those are easily handled by proper manufacturing processes. Perhaps you were thinking of thin-film solar panels, which may use e.g. Cadmium? They're less common and seem unlikely to displace silicon PV in the near future.

hnnewguy 12y ago
>*"What toxic materials are you referring to? I'm not aware of anything that stands out, especially compared to coal mining, or tar sands production" Water usage, along with the carbon emissions from the large diesel vehicles that are actually digging the stuff up.
- mikeash 12y ago
  Emissions from vehicles are eminently fixable in the long term, with the very batteries they're being used to produce.