China Producing Solar Panels Affect On The Environment

Et although china may be a cheaper place than europe for.

China producing solar panels affect on the environment.

Solar energy is terrible for the environment in a number of ways including the fact that large land areas must be devoted to it. They found that solar parks altered the local climate measuring cooling of as much as 5 degrees centigrade under the panels during the summer but the effects varied depending on the time of year. The last few years have seen growing concern over what happens to solar panels at the end of. According to the us department of energy the lifespan of a solar panel will typically span 20 to 30 years depending on the environment where the panels are installed.

Most readers have likely seen exciting headlines claiming we could power the world s energy demands multiple times were we simply to cover the sahara desert with a solar farm the size of china. At forbes michael shellenberger highlights another problem with solar energy. It produces vast quantities of hazardous waste which are not being adequately dealt with. China faces this dilemma plus an even more significant issue.

While solar panels are considered a form of clean renewable energy the manufacturing process does produce greenhouse gas emissions. Solar panels have been heralded as the alternative to fossil fuels for decades. Workers install a solar panel in jiuquan gansu province. Additionally to produce solar panels manufacturers need to handle toxic chemicals.

Fabricating the panels requires caustic chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid and the process uses water as well as electricity the production of which emits greenhouse gases. When you use solar energy in your home you lower your overall greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and you reduce your carbon footprint. China s solar panel production comes at a dirty cost.