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Holy smoke and mirrors: Solar panels THREE TIMES more carbon intensive than natgas?
hotair.com ^ | 7/24/2023 | Beege Welborn

Posted on 07/25/2023 9:15:40 AM PDT by rktman

Talk about being sold a bill of duds.

Michael Shellenberger (that wonderful, courageous man) had a series of tweets this afternoon and I could not believe my eyes.

"People say solar panels don't produce carbon emissions, but they do. And now, a major new investigation by Environmental Progress, drawing on the research of @enricomariutti, finds that solar panels made in China produce at least 3x more carbon emissions than IPCC claims."

The report from Environmental Progress points out a fatal flaw in the solar panel data all of this frenzied switch to renewables is based on: it’s either industry sourced, not independantly verified, OR…it just flat out DOESN’T EXIST...

(See comment for more)

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: climageddon; doh; ecoliars; gangreen
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More at the article itself but a sample:

…Information unearthed by Environmental Progress points to a gaping oversight in how the figures influencing government net zero policy and investments in solar worldwide are compiled and collated due to the difficulty of collecting accurate information out of China, especially for the purification processes used to create silicon wafers.

Key to this blind spot is that the source material for most of the assessments is provided by a small number of data compilers, many if not all of them working in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA). The data is voluntarily submitted by the industry in response to academic surveys. The nature and profile of the respondents is never publicy revealed, so that there is the potential for conflicts of interest to develop.

A further puzzle is how that data feeds into an organization called Ecoinvent, a Swiss-based non-profit founded in 1998 that dubs itself “the world’s most consistent and transparent life cycle inventory database”. This data is relied on by institutions worldwide, including the IPCC and IEA itself, to calculate their carbon footprint projections, including the sixth assessment report published as recently as March 2023.

Based on such data, the IPCC claims solar PV is 48 gCO2/kWh. But, as we’ll see below, a new investigation started by Italian researcher, Enrico Mariutti, suggests that the number is closer to between 170 and 250 gCO2/kWh, depending on the energy mix used to power PV production. If this estimate is accurate, solar would not compare favorably with natural gas, which is around 50 gCO2/kWh with carbon capture, and 400 to 500 without.

1 posted on 07/25/2023 9:15:40 AM PDT by rktman
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To: rktman

We should all be celebrating. Along with all the people helping the environment by driving their F450 super cab dualies to the convenience store three blocks away to get cigarettes and beer... it turns out that greenies themselves are contributing more than we thought to the increase in CO2 emissions. Without the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere from 300 parts per million to 400 parts per million over the past 100 years there is no way that farmers would be able to feed the 8 Billion people currently inhabiting the planet.


2 posted on 07/25/2023 9:28:09 AM PDT by fireman15 (Irritating people are the grit from which we fashion our pearl. I provide the grit. You're Welcome.)
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To: rktman

.


3 posted on 07/25/2023 9:31:57 AM PDT by sauropod (Sun Tzu: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”)
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To: fireman15

Well 8 billion for now. Just think how fat gates and pals will be with the abundance of food available when they get us down to around 500 million world wide. Sweet, right? 😬👍


4 posted on 07/25/2023 9:34:38 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉)
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To: rktman

Name one good thing thought up by the crazy Environmentalists ? LOL


5 posted on 07/25/2023 9:35:03 AM PDT by butlerweave
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To: rktman

Save the trees, burn a liberal.


6 posted on 07/25/2023 9:43:58 AM PDT by wgmalabama (Censored !)
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To: rktman

When one burns 16 pounds of natural gas (i.e., methane - CH4), the resultant products of this combustion are 36 pounds of water vapor - H2O (the MOST abundant greenhouse gas) and 44 pounds of CO2.


7 posted on 07/25/2023 9:45:03 AM PDT by nesnah (Infringe - act so as to limit or undermine [something]; encroach on)
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To: rktman

And of course it never was about carbon emissions, was it?


8 posted on 07/25/2023 9:46:15 AM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: rktman

BUT the Chinese bought Chomo Joe so they get their return on investment. And has anyone seen where the John Kerry Solar Panel Consortium is being built to employ all those energy workers that Chomo Joe is putting out of work?


9 posted on 07/25/2023 10:00:33 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: rktman

NatGas is the cleanest energy next to nuclear which Communists hate both.


10 posted on 07/25/2023 10:03:03 AM PDT by bray (You can tell who the Commies fear.)
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To: wgmalabama

I like that!

Light ‘em up!


11 posted on 07/25/2023 10:03:52 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: rktman

What to consider...

Mining of the aluminum frames, processing the ore, extruding the aluminum, coating the aluminum, and finally assembling the aluminum. Then... Mining all the ores for the rare earths in the solar cells. Then all the wires. Then all the plastics. Then all the glass. All mined, processed, refined, assembled, etc. ALL shipped around the world. ALL completed with oil and coal.

While a natgas generator produces energy in a single stage once the power plant is built, the wells are drilled, and the pipelines laid. And just producing a little bit of water and CO2 as a waste product.


12 posted on 07/25/2023 10:04:51 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: rktman

I see solar panels on roofs here in DFW and I think, “Sucks to be you when the next hailstorm comes.”


13 posted on 07/25/2023 10:06:10 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Organic Panic

Thank goodness all these EVs are zero carbon foot prin......... Oh. 😁👍


14 posted on 07/25/2023 10:10:59 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉)
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To: Organic Panic

Not to mention all the CO2 generated recycling them at the end of their ridiculously short working life. That’s not being counted yet because it’s too expensive to do now. But eventually their mess will have to be cleaned up, it will take a lot of energy to do it, and generated a lot more CO2.


15 posted on 07/25/2023 10:38:50 AM PDT by JohnBovenmyer (Biden/Harris events are called dodo ops)
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To: rktman

No Leftist is capable of a thorough impact analysis or honest cost-benefit analysis.


16 posted on 07/25/2023 10:38:57 AM PDT by jimfree (My 20 y/o granddaughter continues to have more quality exec experience than Joe Biden.)
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To: rktman
What I consider to be worse than the carbon emissions from the manufacturing of the solar panels is the utter waste of land necessitated by these solar ‘farms’. Acres and acres of land wasted.
And the disposal of the damaged panels is another toxic hazard.
17 posted on 07/25/2023 10:42:06 AM PDT by El Cid (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house...)
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To: rktman

Do you think this was ever about love for the planet? Heee


18 posted on 07/25/2023 10:42:12 AM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: El Cid

I can hardly wait to see the drone footage of the 30 million acre wind farm off the Texas coast. Even more highly anticipated will be the one after a Cat 4 or 5 meanders through. 😬


19 posted on 07/25/2023 10:48:29 AM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉)
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To: dfwgator

Here in Florida good luck getting insurance if solar is mounted on your roof.


20 posted on 07/25/2023 10:54:25 AM PDT by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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