Solar panels lose about 1 percent of their production each year. They are not recyclable, so Australia is already dumping old ones and old blades from wind generators in landfills. Arrowhead Electric Co-op’s 2018 Annual Report shows members used about 75 million kwh. Total annual output from the 216-panel solar farm was about 68,000 kwh.
So…one would need 1,100 solar farms, like the one there, to match members’ usage PLUS massive storage facilities for cloudy days and nights AND to match Arrowhead’s off-peak demand load at night. So… what? Clear cut more forest for more panels? Deforestation? It belies common sense!
Electric cars! The lightest model, Tesla model S, weighs 3,600 pounds and costs $35,000. A fuel-sipping Honda Civic weighs 2,800 pounds and costs $20,000. Both vehicles can carry 800-900 pounds. Most commutes involve a single person. So…in driving an expensive heavy Tesla, the climate and highways are already at an 800-pound disadvantage because the Tesla has to carry a heavy battery that is full of unrecyclable rare earth elements that have to be mined.
Solar panels, wind turbines and electric car batteries all require the mining of limited rare earth elements! But….all types of energy consumption have a negative effect on the climate and the earth and all consumption requires the use of limited natural resources!
Now, added concerns are the recently discovered undersea volcanoes that are warming the oceans. If you are so convinced and so concerned human activity is at least partially responsible for global warming and climate change, why are you still promoting human activity including converting finite massive amounts of natural resources into weaponry?
So, what’s your plan? Or, are you just so much blather?
We must understand and consider life cycle consequences. We had better figure out how to use less energy and natural resources and do it!
Steven Carlson
Grand Marais
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