Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
Then why is china the words fastest growing CO2 producer for 2017?
People say they are putting in all this solar but they continue to produce more and more CO2 each year.
Are all these solar panels now some how emitting CO2?
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I think you are both correct.
China is putting in solar faster than anyone else. They passed Germany. Huge solar plants are planned and coming online.
But overall, solar and wind does not make up a substantial percentage of China's total electricity used. They still have a lot of coal-fired plants online, and they appear to be putting some of the plants that were taken offline, back online.
There are some reports that they are building new coal electricity plants, but other reports say not. I'm not convinced one way or the other.
If China's demand for electricity outstrips the fastest growing solar market on the planet ... someone will use coal or natural gas to fill the demand. That's not really a big surprise. It would be nice if the Chinese could decommission the coal plants, and I believe that the government has stated so (no reference link for that one). Still, I don't expect that they will limit production of goods due to a lack of electricity generation.
/begin rant
In any case, it's not something we can control. China makes most of the solar panels. We can buy them or not. THAT we can control. It appears that there are ... limited ... solar panels produced in north america. But you can purchase those panels if you like. Or perhaps panels from Germany. Some use more renewable energy, some use less. I am convinced that solar panels made from the dirtiest power available, using the most toxic process around, is better than the cleanest coal plant in service ... but perhaps I am biased.
I have done some limited research into how much electricity is required to process a gallon of gasoline. And how much natural gas, and how much diesel to transport the finished product. I think it's better to use the electricity to make solar panels or wind turbines or cars or batteries or .. pretty much ANYTHING else ... than to use it to produce gasoline
But then my truck would not run ... since batteries to drive a full sized truck 150 miles on a charge would break the bank if purchased new. I still have hope for recycled EV batteries ... sometime ...
/end rant