<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/if-were-going-to-hold-an-inquiry-into-the-life-cycle-of-solar-why-not-coal-and-gas/>
"Australia’s decision to launch a formal investigation into solar panel reuse
and recycling deserves to be taken seriously.
Rooftop solar has moved from novelty to normal infrastructure, with more than
four million systems installed and entire suburbs where panels are part of the
built environment in the same way as hot water tanks or air conditioners.
When a technology reaches that level of penetration, questions about end of
life management, reuse, and recycling are not signs of failure. They are signs
of maturity. Planning for what happens after 25 or 30 years of service is
exactly what competent governance looks like.
The investigation rests on an implicit principle that is both reasonable and
widely shared. If an energy system produces waste, then society has a
responsibility to manage that waste responsibly.
If that waste creates environmental harm, then regulation and oversight are
appropriate. Solar panels contain glass, aluminium, copper, silicon, silver and
trace metals. Wind turbines contain composites, steel, and concrete.
None of this disappears when systems are decommissioned, and where reusable
elements can be recovered, they should be. Accepting that reality and designing
systems to deal with it is sensible policy, not an indictment of the
technology.
Accepting that principle also invites a second step. If waste is the lens
through which energy systems are to be evaluated, then consistency matters. The
correct unit of comparison is not piles of material photographed at a depot,
but waste per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity delivered.
Electricity systems exist to produce energy, not to accumulate equipment.
Comparing waste flows without normalising to output leads quickly to misleading
conclusions.
When that comparison is done, the scale of solar and wind waste looks very
different from how it is often portrayed. A typical rooftop solar panel weighs
around 20 kg and produces roughly 10 to 15 MWh over a 30-year life in
Australia. That equates to about 1.3 to 2.0 kg of panel mass per MWh, even
before accounting for reuse or refurbishment.
Wind turbines show a similar, and in most cases lower, material intensity.
Modern onshore turbines in the 4-6 MW range operating for 25 to 30 years at
capacity factors around 35% to 40% typically result in roughly 0.15 to 0.30 kg
of blade material per MWh, assuming worst-case landfill disposal.
In both cases, these are small, bounded, episodic waste streams that appear
once, decades after installation, and remain in managed locations rather than
being continuously dispersed into the environment.
Coal and gas systems operate on a different physical logic. They do not produce
most of their waste at the end of life of the plant. They produce waste
continuously, every hour they run. Coal generation emits roughly 900 to 1,000
kg of CO₂ per MWh, along with nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and fine
particulates.
Natural gas emits less CO₂ from combustion, but when upstream methane leakage
and methane slip from turbines are included, lifecycle emissions rise to
roughly 380 to 690 kg CO2e per MWh, depending on plant type and leakage
assumptions.
These waste streams are not contained. They are dispersed into the atmosphere,
accumulate over time, and interact with biological and climatic systems."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
