Tag: solar power

Thousands of Beloved Joshua Trees to Be Chopped Down in Maniacal CA Solar Energy Push

The Joshua tree. The beloved gnarled California icon—revered by desert aficionados and nature conservationists and considered to be endangered—is nevertheless under assault in a weird twist: environmentalists battling environmentalists.

The tree is held in such high regard by people who love the natural world that supergroup U2 named perhaps their finest album after it, titling their 1987 multi-hit record simply “The Joshua Tree.”

The symbolism was not lost on their fans.

But woke is pitted against woke, as the ancient trees now face the chopping block as the crazed “green energy” crowd is poised to destroy the land and thousands of these ancestral growths:

A renewable energy company will soon begin clearing thousands of protected Joshua trees just outside this desert town, including many thought to be a century old, to make way for a sprawling solar project that will generate power for 180,000 homes in wealthier coastal neighborhoods.

The 2,300-acre project has angered residents of Boron and nearby Desert Lake, two small Kern County towns where the poverty rate is twice the California average. Residents say their concerns about construction dust, as well as the destruction of the mostly pristine land that is habitat for endangered desert tortoises, have been ignored by the county and state officials who approved it.

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Farmers are being booted off their land in a drive for more solar power, former union chief warns

The former head of Britain’s farming union yesterday spoke out against large-scale solar farms, declaring ‘there’s a huge amount not to like’.

But Minette Batters warned they will continue to be built while her members faced uncertainty about the future of dairy and arable farming – and while wealthy investors are free to buy up large chunks of the countryside.

Ms Batters, the ex-president of the National Farmers’ Union, also highlighted ‘horrific examples’ where tenant farmers are being booted off land for huge solar schemes so the landowner can make more money.

She said such changes of land use will continue while investors including overseas financiers and private equity firms are able to buy up huge chunks of the rural landscape unchecked, warning: ‘The country is up for sale’.

Ms Batters called for the next government to prioritise a new land strategy, so protections are given to traditional farming and its economic value is properly-acknowledged.

She added: ‘We are a country up for sale. We are selling off land to people who don’t pay their taxes here. It does have to change.’

Ms Batters was speaking during a debate at the Hay Literary Festival on Tuesday, in response to a question from an audience member horrified about the proliferation of giant solar farms covering several square miles of land.

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World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Wrecked By A Storm Just Before Launch

Anyone who has ever owned a boat, particular a large boat which gets left in the water, knows what a harsh environment the sea can be. Some kind of failure was inevitable. If it hadn’t been a storm, there are plenty of other things which could have gone wrong.

Greens keep telling us we can expect more frequent and extreme superstorms – so what is the point of building vulnerable floating structures?

Plastics tend to disintegrate under tropical sunlight, especially when in contact with water or water spray. Ultraviolet from the sun drives exotic chemical reactions, which leads to chemical breakdown.

Metal sitting in water is difficult to manage, even stainless steel is not immune to corrosion. All metal structures in contact with water need to be protected with sacrificial anodes or comparable protective measures. Electricity and metal are an especially bad combination, any electrical fault which causes a current to run through metal in contact with water can cause corrosion to occur thousands of times faster than normal.

Let us hope developers and politicians take the hint, and stop throwing our money at inherently flawed ideas like floating solar arrays.

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NOVEL MATERIAL CAPABLE OF 190% QUANTUM EFFICIENCY COULD REVOLUTIONIZE SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS

A new material capable of greatly improving the efficiency of solar power systems reportedly raised the quantum efficiency of solar panels to an unprecedented 190% during recent tests.

A prototype was developed by researchers with Lehigh University with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, which features an active layer in a solar cell using the material that reportedly also achieved an average photovoltaic absorption of close to 80%.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are electric systems that can provide usable solar power, usually involving solar panels that collect sunlight and convert it into electricity. Additional components include a solar inverter used to convert the power output into alternating current that can be used to power conventional devices.

Traditional solar cells possess a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 100%, which means they can generate and collect a single electron for each photon they absorb through sunlight collected. In recent years, advancements in materials used for such systems have shown promise for increased generation and collection of electrons from high-energy photons.

The efficiency displayed by the new prototype tested by the Lehigh University team far exceeds the current theoretical limits for conventional silicon-based materials used in such PV systems and could potentially revolutionize the field involving the quantum materials they rely on.

Chinedu Ekuma, a physics professor specializing in computational condensed matter physics, says experiments with the new material mark a significant leap toward the development of novel energy solutions that are both more sustainable and accessible.

Ekuma and the team behind the discovery attribute the new material’s remarkable capabilities to what the refer to as “intermediate band states,” which involve certain energy levels that are built into the material’s electronic structure, helping to optimize their ability to convert solar energy.

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Proof that wind and solar are disasters, and not the energy America really needs

Forget the “science is settled.” With energy policy, settling on the best energy sources is more important. 

Unfortunately, the debate over energy is dominated by agenda-driven outbursts and misleading statistics, from activists and governmental officials alike. That’s why we released a comprehensive report card that reviews every major energy source’s benefits (and limitations). 

We’re “grading the grid,” so lawmakers and regulators don’t enact policies that are doomed to fail.

Our analysis, the first of its kind, takes a holistic look at America’s eight most important energy sources: natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear, coal, petroleum, geothermal and hydroelectric. 

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Solar Panels Subsidized By Gov’t Are Winding Up In Landfills, Contaminating Groundwater With Toxic Metals

Oh, the irony…California’s massive push for adaptation of solar over the last several decades in order to ascertain more “clean” energy is now becoming a problem for landfills.

After 1.3 million solar installs later, the first push of panels are reaching the end of their “typical 25-to-30-year life cycle”, according to Yahoo.

And now for the coda to the “clean energy” story: many of the panels are “winding up in landfills, where in some cases, they could potentially contaminate groundwater with toxic heavy metals such as lead, selenium and cadmium” the report says.

One expert told yahoo that only 1 in 10 panels are actually recycled – the rest are contributing to “truckloads of waste”, some of which is contaminated, according to the report.

Sam Vanderhoof, a solar industry expert and chief executive of Recycle PV Solar told Yahoo: “The industry is supposed to be green. But in reality, it’s all about the money.”

California has been pushing for solar since 2006, when the state approved $3.3 billion in subsidies. Now, about 15% of the state’s power comes from solar – but that belies the environmental disaster disposing of the panels has become.

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Biden Megadonor Scores $500 Million Federal Loan for Solar Company

A solar energy company owned by a Biden megadonor received a $500 million government loan to build a manufacturing facility in India, the Biden administration announced this week, raising questions about whether the company’s political clout played any role in the financing decision.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation granted the loan to First Solar, which is owned by billionaire Walmart heir Lukas Walton, to build a solar module plant in India. Walton contributed over $300,000 to President Joe Biden’s campaign last year, and over $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, according to campaign finance records.

The loan to First Solar is the “largest single debt financing transaction” issued by the DFC, the agency announced this week. The DFC said the investment in the India project will “promote DFC’s commitment to diversifying supply chains,” following demands from lawmakers that the agency avoid funding any solar projects connected to forced labor in China.

Ethics watchdogs said the loan raises questions about whether First Solar’s political connections played a role in the DFC’s decision. The federal financing agency, which was formerly known as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, has faced criticism in the past for funding projects linked to political donors. The loan also comes nine years after the Obama administration came under fire for approving $3 billion in loan guarantees to the same company—funding that Republican lawmakers alleged the company wasn’t qualified to receive.

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Solar Panels Are Starting to Die. What Will We Do With The Megatons Of Toxic Trash?

Most people seem to believe that wind and solar panels produce no waste and have no negative environmental impacts. Unfortunately, these people are wrong.

In reality, everything that humans do has an environmental impact, whether it be mining, using a coal-fired power plant, or even tourism. When it comes to energy and environmental policy, the real question to ask is not “will there be an impact?” but rather, “can the impacts be minimized?” and “do the benefits outweigh the costs?”

Because everything has an effect on the environment, it is important that everyone understands the impacts of all energy sources so we can make the best possible energy decisions. We are constantly making trade-offs in our lives whether we recognize it or not.

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Biden’s EPA Nominee Admits Most Solar Panel, Electric Vehicle Parts Come from China

President Biden’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admitted during his confirmation hearing that the United States is at a distinct disadvantage in the clean energy market because most of the parts necessary for solar energy and green vehicles are made in China.

During his confirmation hearing last Wednesday, Michael Regan, Mr. Biden’s nominee to head the EPA, was questioned by Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), about China’s complete disregard for the goals of green activists on the issue of climate change.

Regan referred to his time at the head of the State of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, admitting that while North Carolina is a leader in “solar installation,” most of the parts required for any installation are made in China.

“What we find is most of the parts we want to install come from China,” Regan said during his testimony. “We’re finding that if we don’t capture the market, we’re going to fall behind. I believe that’s the same for solar, as it is for cars.”

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