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Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

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Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#71

Post by realo »

geraltofrivia wrote: post #67
madeofpalk wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its crazy that in 1999 "home solar" was a fancy, new millennium idea, and now we're still barely any closer. Honestly, I think building regulations should mandate solar energy for homes.

My 65yo parents installed Solar panels on the roof of their house in a Tier 2 city in the poor parts of India. So did pretty much most of their neighbours. So i would have to disagree. We are significantly far ahead from the initial “idea”.

Maybe his "we" is more USA-centric than your "we".

It happens all the time...

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#72

Post by zipy124 »

globular-toast wrote: post #53

> Heidu Mountain Scenic Area Not so scenic any more... I get it, electricity good, but man are we destroying places just to get this stuff. In the UK I reckon within my lifetime it won't be possible to go to the sea any more. I mean, the sea how it used to be, without wind turbines in it. Fossil fuels gave us too much. If only we could figure out how to want less.

Fossil fuels have destroyed far more places than renewable energy's land coverage ever will.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#73

Post by FpUser »

appointment wrote: post #49
motbus3 wrote: post #34

I know nothing about the topic. Although it seems a better alternative than coal or petrol, is it free of side effects for the nature? I wonder if the heat that would be spread around the atmosphere and back to space can actually gradually serve as a trap for heat? Does this question make any sense at all?

No it doesn't make sense. Every photon that hits the Earth is eventually either absorbed as heat, reflected back into space or both (eg. partially absorbed and partially re-emitted as lower energy photons.) There is no net global increase in heat from a wind turbine or solar panel. (There might be slight local shifts.) The only way this could change net heat if it significantly altered the reflectivity of the surface…

This is actually quite a sizeable chunk. If in the future needs grow 10 times the area needed might become big problem.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#74

Post by zipy124 »

It is incredible to see just how many big-oil talking points there are in this thread. From renewable energies resource costs, to their land use impact. I didn't realise just how effective their propaganda was in the tech space till reading this thread. That is not to say that these projects should be free of criticism, but anyone who believes these negatives are remotely close to the damage that fossil fuels are doing needs to re-evaluate their world view.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#75

Post by raverbashing »

zipy124 wrote: post #74

It is incredible to see just how many big-oil talking points there are in this thread. From renewable energies resource costs, to their land use impact. I didn't realise just how effective their propaganda was in the tech space till reading this thread. That is not to say that these projects should be free of criticism, but anyone who believes these negatives are remotely close to the damage that fossil fuels are doi…

[flagged]

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#76

Post by madeofpalk »

realo wrote: post #71
geraltofrivia wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 65yo parents installed Solar panels on the roof of their house in a Tier 2 city in the poor parts of India. So did pretty much most of their neighbours. So i would have to disagree. We are significantly far ahead from the initial “idea”.

Maybe his "we" is more USA-centric than your "we". It happens all the time...

My "We" is Australia and UK-centric.

People have home solar, but it's hardly widespread. It's still a "fancy" thing to have.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#78

Post by micw »

uncletoxa wrote: post #27
vachina wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nuclear still have to deal with nuclear waste. > gigantic waste of space Good thing China isn’t running out of space

The latest generation of Nuclear power plants are full cycle, produce close to nothing amount of waste

Sources?

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#79

Post by budgefrankly »

SPICLK2 wrote: post #31

I find the idea of blanketing mountainous wilderness in relatively short-lived e-waste just awful. Surely there are much better terrains for solar panels?

In this particular case I believe the mountain is largely karst (limestone) and the panels substantially reduced erosion -- particularly of soil -- leading to an increase in fauna that thrive in the shade.

As others have said, it's hardly waste, it's an installation with a 30-year lifespan.

Re: Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China's wind and solar buildout

#80

Post by dzonga »

roxolotl wrote: post #21

It genuinely makes me so sad to see the US not doing the same. Having grown up to the constant beat of “energy independence” as the core goal of a party it seemed obvious that the nearly limitless energy that rains down from the sky would be the answer. But instead we’ve kept choosing the option which requires devastating our, and other’s around the world, community. That’s not to exclude the harsh reality of mining…

it seems us is fighting yesterday's war

wars / empires etc are built on mastering an energy source

the Brits on Coal

the US rose on Oil

China is rising on renewables

my worry is can renewables be quickly brought online to power industry / power hungry Data Centers etc at a reasonable cost

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