WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WASTE FROM GREEN ENERGY?

We are constantly told how wonderful green energy is—renewable, sustainable, net zero. But what happens when a solar panel or a wind turbine has outlived its short, useful life? It turns out that no one talks about it because the story isn’t so pretty.

We had a hint that things might not be so “green” when a few Teslas had “carbecues” on the freeways around here and instead of a fire being put out quickly, they were allowed to burn for many hours, as there was nothing else to be done. Freeways were closed as the air was too toxic to breathe. And what happens to the batteries when they are at the end of their useful life, which is generally only 10 years? Obviously, we can’t burn them. And they are full of toxic chemicals.

Landfill Problems

Most of us are aware that it can be hard to find new places to discard our garbage. Wind turbines and solar panels generally last 25 years, but the trash is considerable, some of it toxic. It depends on how they are made, but given years of problematic manufacturing techniques from Chinese companies, those devices from China might likely contain arsenic, gallium, germanium, and hexavalent chromium which could pollute our groundwater.

In the coming years, however, 500 MM solar panels and 73,000 wind turbines will be decommissioned and replaced; these parts have to go somewhere. Currently, people buying them pay no recycling fee, and it is doubtful much could be recycled. You don’t hear about this, but it is a problem that needs to be addressed, but isn’t being looked at by those touting all the benefits of the energy sources. Unlike nuclear, where most problems have been solved, the advocates of “green” aren’t talking.

Ivanpah Solar in California

While we think we have years ahead to plan, the world’s largest solar power plant is closing only 11 years after it began. It uses solar-thermal with 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, which reflect sunlight to boilers. But it no longer competes with other solar on price, despite the cost to build and maintain it.

Oddly, the environmentalists have long attacked this plant, given that the computer-controlled mirrors have incinerated thousands of birds and tortoises. It also destroyed much desert habitat. It’s good that it’s going away, but taking it apart will be costly and the garbage substantial.

Offshore Turbines

More and more, politicians are talking about offshore wind turbines, thinking that these would be more tolerable than giant wind or solar farms. Of course, the politically-connected don’t want to look at them, so they can’t be located near Martha’s Vineyard, or the like.

But again, environmentalists don’t like them. Stories abound about the devastation the engines cause to sea-life of all kinds. How green is this? Robin Shaffer of Protect Our Coast NJ, said, “These offshore things are not renewable and not clean—it takes a boat loads of equipment out to the sites to build and maintain them and it will take boatloads to take it all back.”

You can’t reuse these parts in any case. Companies who have built these things ignore their recycling contracts, causing big problems for the cities that hosted them.

Shiny, New Things

Too many politicians get a “bright idea” in their heads and go for it, without first doing a pilot and looking at all the pros and cons of this idea. Next, they should weigh results of the pilot. How much does it cost, all in, relative to the proposed benefit? Did we get the benefit? Finally, you have to look at the end-of-life situation. What do you do when the plant no longer works?

We’ve got to reign these guys in and let them know that their “green” story hasn’t proven out. Even those smug electric car drivers should know that when they plug in their cars, they are using energy most often generated by non-green sources. And too often, they don’t have to pay for it.

We need people to act like real scientists and economists and look at total cost of a solution, not just the shimmering sales image that looks so good.

I’m reminded of a joke that plays well here. A man dies and is asked by the devil if he wants to go to Heaven or Hell. He says, “Can I take a look first?” “Sure,” says the devil. Heaven has people floating around playing harps in the clouds. Hell, however, has a huge beach with young, attractive people playing in the water, drinking exotic drinks and playing games. “I’ll take Hell,” the man says and promptly finds himself in fiery brimstone and lava pools with nasty imps poking him with tridents. “What happened to the beach? This isn’t what you promised.” The devil grins. “That was just the demo.”