Quote:
Originally Posted by Zythryn
These stats on pollution caused by solar panel production are alarming. They are also useless on their own.
Please also list stats on how much pollution, and its affects, come from coal plants in China. Include the polution created to create the same amount of power that the solar panels will create over 20 years.
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I did not see your request until just today. I wasnt ignoring you.
This was an article bringing to the front an issue I had not been aware of. As far as stats? Hows this:
From the Article:
"The tests show high concentrations of chlorine and hydrochloric acid, which can result from the breakdown of silicon tetrachloride and do not exist naturally in soil. "Crops cannot grow on this, and it is not suitable for people to live nearby," said Li Xiaoping, deputy director of the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences."
"About nine months ago, residents of Li's village, which begins about 50 yards from the plant, noticed that their crops were wilting under a dusting of white powder. Sometimes, there was a hazy cloud up to three feet high near the dumping site; one person tending crops there fainted, several villagers said. Small rocks began to accumulate in kettles used for boiling faucet water."
"Each night, villagers said, the factory's chimneys released a loud whoosh of acrid air that stung their eyes and made it hard to breath. "It's poison air. Sometimes it gets so bad you can't sit outside. You have to close all the doors and windows," said Qiao Shi Peng, 28, a truck driver who said he worries about his 1-year-old son's health."
Chlorine (a wiki snippet):
Chlorine is detectable in concentrations of as low as 1 ppm. Coughing and vomiting may occur at 30 ppm and lung damage at 60 ppm. About 1000 ppm can be fatal after a few deep breaths of the gas.
Hydrochloric acid (a wiki snippet) in high concentrations forms acidic mists. Both the mist and the solution have a corrosive effect on human tissue, with the potential to damage respiratory organs, eyes, skin, and intestines.
At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric humidity.
(end wiki snippets)
As far as the coal issue, thats irrelevant to my point which was they are not recycling it. I am pretty sure your not advocating dumping this on the ground. Because this particular chinese method of waste disposal does reduce the amount of coal burned by avoiding the recycling process.
But I cant imagine cleaning up the ground later (if china does such things) is more economical or greener. Usually (and this I know) the contaminates are burned in various facilities to clean the soil when tillage is not an option (tillage to disperse a contaminate over a wider area to reduce readings levels back down to an acceptable level). And as I understand it, the waste produced is recycled and reused into creating more product. I am not sure they could do this with the contaminated ground soil.
And I cant help but wonder about the pebbles in the boiled water. Is the stuff already in the ground water, or is the boiling water sucking that much crap out of the air?
Also I would like to point out I did not accuse every chinese manufacturer of misdeed. I said "But if your "green host" purchaced panels from this base, they not only contributed to pollution elsewhere, they actually increased the pollution factor more,
when 'greener' methods exist.
From article "But the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co., here in the central plains of Henan Province near the Yellow River, stands out for one reason:
It's a green energy company, producing polysilicon destined for solar energy panels sold around the world.
Hope that helps clear up the intent of my post.
