그린에너지에 대한 딜레마 VIDEO: The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the nation’s environment
The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the nation’s environment
What happens to old solar panels, windmills and high tech batteries?
By Amy Joi O'Donoghue@Amyjoi16 Jan 30, 2021,
Wind farms and massive arrays of solar panels are cropping up across public and private landscapes both in the United States and abroad as users increasingly turn to “green energy” as their preferred flavor of electricity.
A photovoltaic solar panel installation north of Milford, Beaver County, is pictured on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Environmental researchers note there are few incentives to recycle solar panels, as the cost of recovering the materials outweighs the costs of extracting what can be recycled. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
풍력 발전소와 대규모 태양열 발전시설이 미국과 해외의 공공 및 민간 환경 전반에 걸쳐 점점 더 많은 사용자들이 선호하는 전기 "녹색 에너지"에 눈을 돌리고 있다.
실제로 조 바이든은 탄소 기반 경제 및 전기 그리드에서 벗어나기 위한 대대적인 노력의 일환으로 2024년까지 태양, 풍력 또는 지열 자원으로부터 20기가와트의 신에너지를 유치할 수 있는 적절한 장소를 파악하라고 지시했다.
하지만 녹색은 얼마나 녹색일까?
각국이 탄소 기반, 이른바 "더러운" 에너지를 줄이기 위해 풍력 및 태양열 팜을 설치하려고 열렬히 노력하고 있지만, 몇몇 국가, 운영자 및 산업 자체는 독성 금속, 석유, 섬유와 같은 그들 자신의 환경 위험을 가지고 있는 이러한 시스템의 폐기물을 어떻게 처분할 것인가에 대한 장기적인 결과에 대해 아직 완전히 대처하지 못하고 있다.
미국 환경보호국이 발표한 보고보고서는 2050년까지 태양 폐기물에 대한 놀라운 수치를 예측하고 있다.
미국, 1천만 톤
독일, 3백만 톤
중국, 2천만 톤
일본 750만 톤
인도, 750만 톤 등
태양 배열의 수명은 약 30년
녹색 폐기물 증가
2019년 태양광산업협회에 따르면 미국은 태양열 시설의 100만대 설치라는 대기록을 세운 지 3년 만에 200만대를 돌파했다.
이 보고서은는 태양 폐기물의 성장은 재활용에 측면도 있지만 일부는 부적절하게 도시 매립지에 들어가거나 창고에 쌓이는 등 재활용과 처리 능력을 이미 초과시키고 있다고 지적한다.
황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터
Ki Chul Hwang Conpaper editor
edited by kcontents
President Joe Biden, in fact, has directed the Interior Department to identify suitable places to host 20 gigawatts of new energy from sun, wind or geothermal resources by 2024 as part of a sweeping effort to move away from a carbon-based economy and electrical grid.
Destroys Solar Farm in Puerto Rico BOB MEINETZ
edited by kcontents
But how green is green?
Although countries are feverishly looking to install wind and solar farms to wean themselves off carbon-based, or so-called “dirty” energy, few countries, operators and the industry itself have yet to fully tackle the long-term consequences of how to dispose of these systems, which have their own environmental hazards like toxic metals, oil, fiberglass and other material.
A briefing paper released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts these startling global numbers for countries by 2050 just for solar waste:
United States, 10 million tons.
Germany, 3 million tons.
China, 20 million tons.
Japan, 7.5 million tons.
India, 7.5 million tons.
Solar arrays have a life cycle of about 30 years, but the rapid adoption of solar in the United States and elsewhere has the problem of disposal creeping up in the rearview mirror — faster rather than later.
Green waste growth
In 2019, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the United States surpassed 2 million solar installations, just three years after it hit the milestone of 1 million installations.
The paper points out that the growth of solar waste is already straining recycling and disposal capabilities, with some panels improperly ending up in municipal landfills or stacking up in warehouses while the wait continues for more inexpensive routes to recycling.
Research underscores there are few incentives to recycle solar panels, as the cost of recovering the materials outweighs the costs of extracting what can be recycled — even without adding in transportation expenses.
The issue foreshadows the potential for the creation of a new class of hazardous waste sites under EPA Superfund designations as clean energy operators walk away from a large volume of materials that contaminate the soil and groundwater.
“It is foreseeable that the same kind of practices could occur with respect to (solar) panels in the absence of very effective programs for the collecting and recycling of PV panels available where PV panels are used,” the paper said.
View full text
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/1/30/22249311/why-green-energy-isnt-so-green-and-poses-harm-to-the-environment-hazardous-waste-utah-china-solar
Will renewables end up as more landfill?
kcontents
