Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, like California’s Governor Newsom, is mandating his state toward an all-electric state. In doing so, Inslee is demonstrating his visionary limitations, as he cannot see the ugly side of his wind, solar, and EV mandated world.
For the vast acreage required for wind and solar, it’s pathetic destruction of pristine landscapes!
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Further, after decades of working around the world, wind turbines and solar panels continue to have a live expectancy of about 20 years. To-date there is yet to be discovered a financially viable means of recycling those renewables. As a result, today’s old wind turbines and solar panels are being dumped into toxic waste dumps.
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Today, estimates are that by 2050, with current plans, the quantity of worn-out solar panels, much of its non-recyclable, will constitute double the tonnage of all today’s global plastic waste, along with over 3 million tons per year of unrecyclable materials from worn-out wind turbine blades.
Inslee could enhance his energy literacy by viewing a short 1-minute video produced by Epoch Times TV about renewables that only generate electricity, but manufacture nothing for society. The video has already been viewed by more than 800,000 on social media at youtube.com.
Wind turbine blades are made of a tough but pliable mix of resin and fiberglass—similar to what spaceship parts are made from. Decommissioned blades are difficult and expensive to transport. They can be anywhere from 100 to 300 feet long and must be cut up on-site before getting trucked away on specialized equipment to a landfill that may not have the capacity for the blades. Landfills that do have the capacity may not have equipment large enough to crush them.
Solar panels are mostly made of glass, which has low value as a recycled material, but they also have small amounts of silicon, silver, and copper as well as heavy metals (cadmium, lead, etc.) that some governments classify as hazardous waste. Hazardous waste can only be transported at designated times and via select routes. Because solar panels are delicate and bulky, specialized labor is required to detach and remove them to avoid their shattering and polluting local areas.
Before committing to an all-electric State, Washington has the opportunity to seek decommissioning, restoration, and recycling down to the last dandelion of every wind turbine, solar panel, and EV battery, just like we have for a decommissioned mine, oil, or nuclear sites in America.
Read the rest of this piece at CFACT.
Ron Stein is an engineer who, drawing upon 25 years of project management and business development experience, launched PTS Advance in 1995. He is an author, engineer, and energy expert who writes frequently on issues of energy and economics.
Photo: courtesy CFACT.
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