While solar is a far less polluting energy source than coal or natural gas, many panel makers are nevertheless grappling with a hazardous waste problem. Fueled partly by billions in government incentives, the industry is creating millions of solar panels each year and, in the process, millions of pounds of polluted sludge and contaminated water. To dispose of the material, the companies must transport it by truck or rail far from their own plants to waste facilities hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of miles away. The fossil fuels used to transport that waste, experts say, is not typically considered in calculating solars carbon footprint, giving scientists and consumers who use the measurement to gauge a products impact on global warming the impression that solar is cleaner than it is. After installing a solar panel, it would take one to three months of generating electricity to pay off the energy invested in driving those hazardous waste emissions out of state, said Dustin Mulvaney, a San Jose State University environmental studies professor who conducts carbon footprint analyses of solar, biofuel and natural gas production.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 22:55:03 +0000
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