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The Bulletin: February 6-12, 2025
The Bulletin: February 6-12, 2025 CLICK HERE The Crises Yet To Come When efficiency becomes a problem: Jevons Paradox in the Age of AI – Conhecimento Hoje Supercharging the Predicaments We Face Please, be a NIMBY – by Elisabeth Robson Nuclear Fusion Is Just More Bullshit Break the Consumption Cycle Why pervasive media propaganda […]
Clean energy minerals shortage: Who knew it could happen?
Clean energy minerals shortage: Who knew it could happen? The race for so-called green energy has spawned another race, one for the minerals needed to make the devices such as solar panels and batteries that produce, store and transmit that energy. A hitherto largely unchallenged economic idea—that we will always have supplies of everything we […]
The Dark Side of Solar Power
THE DARK SIDE OF SOLAR POWER Everybody loves solar power, right? It’s nice, clean, renewable energy that’s available pretty much everywhere the sun shines. If only the panels weren’t so expensive. Even better, solar is now the cheapest form of electricity for companies to build, according to the International Energy Agency. But solar isn’t all apples […]
Pedro Prieto: many solar panels won’t last 25-30 years, EROI may be negative
Pedro Prieto: many solar panels won’t last 25-30 years, EROI may be negative Preface. Pedro Prieto and Charles Hall wrote the definitive book on the EROI of solar power, “Spain’s Photovoltaic Revolution. The Energy Return on Investment” and has built many commercial facilities himself and witnessed the failure of solar panels long before the supposed 25-30 […]
What Will We Do With All Those Solar Panels When Their Useful Life is Over?
WHAT WILL WE DO WITH ALL THOSE SOLAR PANELS WHEN THEIR USEFUL LIFE IS OVER? As solar power booms, businesses are exploring ways to ensure valuable components don’t end up in landfills. Photo courtesy of sinovoltaics.com April 11, 2018 — Solar power is having its hockey stick moment. Since the early 2000s, the amount of […]
Will solar panels and Tesla Powerwalls meet your home’s energy needs?
Will solar panels and Tesla Powerwalls meet your home’s energy needs? Tesla is now marketing its Powerwall2 storage battery for domestic applications, claiming among other things that it can make your home self-powered and blackout-proof. Here I review Tesla’s claims using an existing rooftop PV array in the Arizona desert as a real-life example. Will […]
The solar panel imports case and the future of self-sufficiency
The solar panel imports case and the future of self-sufficiency Last week the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the American solar panel industry had been harmed by cheap imports though it did not specifically find that the competition was unfair. The decision has stunned the solar industry which has relied on cheap panel […]
Are Solar Panels Lifespans As Long As Industry Claims?
Are Solar Panels Lifespans As Long As Industry Claims? The success of solar has really been a case of successful innovations in financing as much as successful innovations in technology. As with some many other major capital expenditures consumers have traditionally had a hard time paying for rooftop solar systems up front. With system costs […]
The stuff problem
The stuff problem ‘Yes to renewables!’ Hundreds rallied outside the Victorian Parliament House, Melbourne, 10 December 2013. Takver under a Creative Commons Licence How much mined material will we need to build a 100-per-cent renewable world? Danny Chivers works it out. The problem with wind turbines, solar panels, ground-source heat pumps and electric cars is that they’re all made of […]
How Sustainable is PV Solar Power?
How Sustainable is PV Solar Power? Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate “free” electricity from sunlight, but manufacturing them is an energy-intensive process. It’s generally assumed that it only takes a few years before solar panels have generated as much energy as it took to make them, resulting in very low greenhouse gas emissions compared to […]
As “Spectacular” Eclipse Covers Europe, Fears Turn To Its Power Grid
As “Spectacular” Eclipse Covers Europe, Fears Turn To Its Power Grid Some parts of Europe witnessed a near total solar eclipse this morning, an event which, while fun to observe (not without the proper equipment please), presents a challenge for solar panels: namely, a lack of sun. As it turns out this same problem happens […]
