I've been following nano-solar for years and am VERY excited by their new manufacturing plant finally being up and running. (Also the Ausra solar thermal factory is finally operational, and now they are manufacturing their unique cheaper
flat panel solar thermal system that should be as cheap as coal when scaled up into the multi-gigawatt power station system).
The point is: one scary Chinese solar plant does not a debunking make. I'm sure that if Silicone Solar PV were the ONLY way to make renewable energy we'd eventually find a way to deal with the waste and process it properly. After all, some greenhouse greenies are even recommending NUKULAR and we all know how safe that is.
The other point is, the sooner we roll out exponentially more renewable energy of all forms, the sooner we get off the fossil fuels. The Pickens Plan (Youtube it) recommends replacing all the USA's gas fired electricity with baseload wind power (by spreading wind right up the centre of America) and then using all that natural gas as a less polluting cheaper transport fuel. I'd back this plan ONLY if it didn't send the message that Americans were all entitled to private transport as usual. If using the natural gas were seen as a stop-gap measure basically giving America a bit more time to build electric trains, trams, and trolley buses to permanently get off liquid fuels, then we might have a plan that deals with peak oil and global warming.
We have to get away from thinking a solar panel on it's own is going to save 'business as usual' and start seeing our industrialised world as a whole system. Forget energy efficient cars, we need energy efficient CITIES and there are ways we can retrofit, rezone, and rebuild sections of our cities to achieve amazing results. Energy efficient cars will have their place (in emergency services, postal delivery etc) but if we design cities in a way that allows Americans and Australians to live WITHOUT OIL we'll be in a more sustainable world, have solved peak oil and global warming, and stop funding people that don't like us very much. If the Pickens Plan keeps us addicted to business as usual, then I'm all against it.
Honestly, seeing our cities as 'industrial ecosystems' where each product —*whether solar panels or joggers — has it's 'next function' in mind (at the end of its lifespan) in "Cradle to Cradle" design terms is the only way to plan our world. Then "Greenwashing" will be a thing of the past, pollution will be a thing of the past, toxic waste dumps will be a thing of the past and everything will be made from renewable energy with recyclable and non-toxic materials.
That's the only way we are going to create a better world for our kids.
