I apologize for coming off as harsh in my previous posts. I just sometimes get discouraged by all of the misinformation that gets perpetuated without being challenged by facts. I also get discouraged that many people are content to do nothing because something isn't perfect... that is, they let the perfect become the enemy of the better or the good. This is true of electricity production, wearing masks, etc.
The fact is that in many situations, solar and storage is much less harmful to the environment than coal and NG, so the argument that "Solar isn't perfect, so let's just do nothing and stick with something that we know is much worse." or, "China is worse, so why should we do anything?" is frustrating to people who are working to preserve biodiversity and leave the planet in as good a shape as we can for future generations.
I agree that solar isn't a perfect solution and that increasing nuclear should definitely be considered. Yes, solar panels require mining for the raw materials and they don't produce 24 hours/day, so storage becomes necessary. However, that's still a heck of a lot better than coal and NG. With coal, you mine vast areas, which has destroyed millions of acres of biodiverse forests, killing not only birds, but eliminating habitat for insects, bears, and everything in between. Then you process the coal, transport it, and process it some more, all of which require energy. Then you burn it, contributing GHGs to the atmosphere causing even more warming. Then after burning it, you've got fly and bottom ash to deal with, so we build impoundments of ash that have high concentrations of toxic metals such as arsenic and mercury. The impoundments often fail and choke out rivers and streams with toxic sediment. Or you've got slurry pond impoundments from underground mining operations that fail and choke out streams with toxins and sediment. Those are just some of the problems with coal. I won't bother to get into acid mine drainage or sediment and metal loading from surface mine outflows or methane and NG leakage, forest fragmentation, and soil and water pollution from hydraulic fracking. Geez, I haven't even gotten into the pollution from oil drilling and spills (think: Deepwater Horizon, Niger River Delta, and Exxon Valdez). Plus, when coal and gas are burned, they're gone and we're left with the pollution and atmospheric GHG concentrations that will continue to warm the planet for centuries, as well as warmer oceans, bleached coral reefs, and less alkaline water.
Many of the materials in solar panels and batteries can be recycled into new panels and batteries. What I'd like to see is research into durable, modular panels that could be used in limited situations for solar parking lots and roads. Then you wouldn't need to take up green spaces and there wouldn't be much of an albedo change. Plenty of real estate there and it would be easy to tie into existing grids.
Kindest regards,
Kantuck
