23. Wait—What Baby? (PV waste)
Wait—What Baby? It’s a reasonable thing to wonder, “How green is Green Energy, really?” Critical thinking and skepticism certainly deserve a place at the table as we plan for our energy future. But before reaching temptingly ironic conclusions, maybe we should revisit our commitment to data and facts, lest we throw the baby out with the solar-heated bathwater! Take the issue of possible waste materials from photovoltaic solar panels (PVs). Recently we encountered commentary concerned with the possibility that we are transitioning from an energy source (fossil fuels) that produces one kind of waste to one (PVs) that just produces a different kind of waste. The commentary implied that the two power sources are equally bad since they both produce harmful waste. But there was no quantitative analysis. How much waste from each? What is the relative difficulty of dealing with their wastes? Here are some concerns we have heard: 1) Solar panels release sulfur hexafluoride (SF6,), harmless