131–140 of 214 posts
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Have you ever seen any heavy equipment operate before in a dry area? It churns up dust, this isn’t rocket science guys. It’s so obvious you shouldn’t need evidence.
> It’s so obvious you shouldn’t need evidence. And that's how we end up with things like "obviously, we cannot have a climate change, I mean it's cold on the outside!!".
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Then source's credentials, data or other factual bases for the opinion can help the reader/listener/viewer decide (e.g. source1 is a 25y veteran meteorologist, source2's data is based on postings from 4chan). Without facts and common assumptions, opinions are noise.
And when what was posted on 4chan was links to a series of meteorological studies and reports? I'm not being obtuse - I think this is actually a perfect example of one of the many problems here. It's difficult to get (and in turn, give) a fair assessment of an issue without actually genuinely understanding the nuances of arguments on all significant sides. But issues are not simple and journalists are, in general, no…
You're arguing a straw man of not checking out the sources sufficiently and just going off of surface impressions, when GP is arguing that digging into the sources is their job.
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Can you explain why? I can see how it would be undesirable to locals, but clear cutting redwoods would release massive amounts of stored carbon, whereas solar panels in the desert would seem to do the opposite.
The desert isn't a blank sandscape. There's a whole ecosystem of desert plants and creatures, not to mention the solar panels killing migratory birds.
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IANABotanist, but I wonder if there are plants that do well in sandy soil and shade that could be used as ground cover underneath the panels and keep the dust down.
IANABotanist either, but your real problem isn't finding the right species of ground cover. It's coming up with sufficient water in the Mojave desert.
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In my view, this is a problem if each side is making claims without any attempt at quantifying or disclosing the relative magnitude of effects. That's a case where a reporter could do a little digging and fill in those details. For instance, how much dust? How is it stirred up? And so forth. You can still make of it what you will, but with better information. I encounter the same thing dealing with engineers. They wi…
Exactly. Can the dust be mitigated? Maybe via replanting afterwards? Or maybe the panels need to be farther apart to encourage regrowth of plants? Is a square field of panels more destructive than a longer line of panels? Are there construction vehicles that can cause less damage to the existing plant life? If journalism can't be bothered to do research maybe the rise of AI created factuals is well deserved.
Wow.. when I thought NIMBYism in California couldn't get any worst. From here: https://www.sbsun.com/2019/02/28/san-bernardino-county-board... " some residents say the prohibition will protect communities from potential health hazards caused by blowing dust, which increases when pristine desert land is disturbed by construction. They also sited the protection of scenic views, carbon sequestration from desert vegetati…
Outside-of-California coal plants that significantly and regularly contribute to Southern California's energy mix are Navajo (in Page, AZ) and Intermountain (in Delta, UT). These are Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)'s share and get mixed in through them. There's even a dedicated HDVC line [1][2] between Intermountain and Victorville.
The coal for Navajo is mined in Kayenta, AZ, and the plant's effects are multifaceted. It came about as a compromise when dams affecting the Grand Canyon were cancelled, and the mine and plant create jobs and lease payments for the Navajo Nation, but it also pollutes land and is used to power cities far away.
The coal for Intermountain is mined in Utah, Colorado, or Wyoming, depending on market forces.
LADWP has set goals to switch off of coal in the coming years, including considering converting Intermountain to natgas. Navajo's prospects are not good -- they're under regulatory and economic pressure, and conversion to natgas is not viable due to the lack of pipelines to the area.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_27 [2] https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/3392214
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IANABotanist either, but your real problem isn't finding the right species of ground cover. It's coming up with sufficient water in the Mojave desert.
Might be an interesting terraforming project: bring some water along with the electrical infra, plant drought resistant shrubs and watch as they start covering soil, capturing moisture and so on...
I am not sure why people think that a desert is bare and empty, I guess most just assume that because you can't see it as easily as you can in a forest that there is nothing there, but desert ecosystems are much more fragile than most other ecosystems and do not adjust easily to random interference.
What's the useful life of modern solar panels? Will these solar farms have to be decommissioned or retrofit in the future, and will we have to deal with a bunch of toxic material disposal say 30 years from now? I guess it certainly seems like a no-brainer to build these things in deserts with consistent sunlight, but I'm just curious if there are externalities we're not thinking of yet because we haven't had to.
Also most of the environmental footprint of the panels comes from the production process, which requires high temperatures and solvents.
All in all it's not much of a problem.
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What did it for me was the time they successfully blocked the hospital helipad, literally killing people. http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2008/10/15/a-san-francisco-general...
I was impressed with the community that didn't want their own kid's teachers living near them for fear it would reduce property values. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/06/turn-schools-into-tea...
Ideally the “new school” site could be turned into housing instead of destroying the center of the community which will require difficult zoning changes (currently 1 home per 5 acres I believe).