Posted on 02/10/2023 7:01:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, like California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, is mandating that his state become all-electric. In doing so, Inslee demonstrates serious myopia. He cannot see the ugly side of his wind-, solar-, and EV-mandated world.
Such comprehensive dependence on wind and solar requires vast acreage for turbines and panels. The result? The pathetic destruction of pristine landscapes.
Further, after decades of experience around the world, wind turbines and solar panels have been found to have a life expectancy of about 20 years. Yet no one has discovered a financially viable means of recycling them. As a result, today’s old wind turbines and solar panels are being dumped into toxic waste dumps -- in vast quantities -- from which they can leak toxic chemicals, endangering water supply and ecosystems.
Today, estimates are that by 2050, with current plans, the quantity of worn-out solar panels, much of it non-recyclable, will constitute double the tonnage of all today’s global plastic waste, along with over three million tons per year of unrecyclable materials from worn-out wind turbine blades.
Inslee could enhance his energy literacy by viewing a one-minute video produced by Epoch Times TV about renewables that only generate electricity, but manufacture nothing for society. The video has already been viewed by more than 800,000.
Wind turbine blades are made of a tough but pliable mix of resin and fiberglass -- similar to what spaceship parts are made from. Decommissioned blades are difficult and expensive to transport. They can be anywhere from 100 to 300 feet long and must be cut up on site before getting trucked away on specialized equipment to a landfill that may not have adequate capacity. Landfills that do have the capacity may not have equipment large enough to crush them.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Solar panels are mostly made of glass, which has low value as a recycled material, but they also have small amounts of silicon, silver, and copper as well as heavy metals (cadmium, lead, etc.) that some governments classify as hazardous waste. Hazardous waste can only be transported at designated times and via select routes. Because solar panels are delicate and bulky, specialized labor is required to detach and remove them to avoid their shattering and polluting local areas.
The old dinosaurs issuing diktats to eliminate ICE vehicles will bear none of the burdens that their subjects will. The elite will be long-dead before things really turn bad.
But when I read the AT article this morning I literally LOL'd at: "Because solar panels are delicate and bulky, specialized labor is required to detach and remove them to avoid their shattering and polluting local areas." LOL
I, with zero "specialized" training, helped my solar contractor (he in his 60's, I in my 50's) unload the panels one at a time from his utility trailer and tote them around back (across septic tank field lines, so we toted them by hand) where they sat against the shed to wait for my roofing guy to give my metal roof a once-over for potential leaks before it was covered in solar panels. Then the day came when I helped the solar team ferry the panels up ladders as part of me every now and then being on the roof anyway to review their work and learn the system's strengths and potential weaknesses.
Dictatorships springing up everywhere
The difference was I think, King Canute was being facetious when he tried to demonstrate that even as King, he had no power to control the waves.
These stupid governors on the other hand ARE SERIOUS. They actually believe they can overcome the laws of physics!
He should first require all EV charging stations to rely on wind turbines and solar panels.
How often do you clean those 64 solar panels? I can imagine the cleaning for 10 acres of them. Perhaps we should get Inslee out for a cleaning job.
I've never cleaned them once, not even with a water hose.
I've owned 32 of them for almost 2 years (21 months) and the other 32 for 5 months. All of them are far away from trees. Admittedly 40 of them (including the first 32) are installed on a steep pitch (meaning the rain washes them off better). That combined with a couple of nights per winter of snow or ice, which is good for them to be cleaned naturally when the ice melts in the morning, is all that's been done to clean them so far.
The other 20 panels (all of them owned just 5 months) are installed on roof that's gently slanted. My experience with those so far are only in the fall and winter. I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up having to rinse them off with a hose a time or two a year during pollen season.
Who in the world said anything about 10 acres of solar panels? That's crazy. You must be talking about trying to implement solar at the utility level. I don't like that idea at all. Utility power must be dependable.
Washington State is beginning to build huge solar farms in areas where the fields will generate dust from the wind.
This is the 170-acre, 82,000 panel, 28 megawatts solar farm in Washington's Adams County. A nearby 300 acre farm is under construction. I wonder if there are plans to clean these panels?
I'd be skeptical about how well panels would work as far north as you are (in state of Washington). You might ought to look up avg daily peak solar hours per month for your area with this tool: http://tsi.tyconsystems.com/html/nrel_lookup.htm.
I wonder about how the dust affects the panels as well. We live in Quincy, not far from Adams county, and the dust here from the agricultural fields is unending. We also drive past the wind farms on I90 several times a year, and it is not uncommon to see them not turning. I don’t think it’s due to lack of wind. I think it’s due to lack of need. Our hydro power here is plentiful and cheap. Jay Inslee is nothing more than a “me too!” lefty. He’s never had an original thought in his life.
It is silly to argue with reason against irrational emotions.
Solar is totally out for my incredible location with towering cedars all over my property. No sun will get to a solar panel unless I cut down about 20 cedars at $1,000 per tree.
Under Jay Inslee, four hydroelectric dams will be breached in Washington state as part of a strategy to help local salmon populations recover. That proposal tells one of the total crazy that is controlling Washington’s energy programs.
With the $billions going to renewal energy production, where is the nuclear?
Well if the Dims can so quickly change their minds on natural gas, imagine how quickly they can excuse regulating away nuclear saying it's dangerous.
We’ve never seen any panels cleaned in any of the farms in our neck of the Upstate NY woods.
But then EVs, solar panels, wind turbines are about saving the planet the same way CoupFlu policy is about protecting public health.
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