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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Devil’s Advocate: Are solar electricity and electric vehicles really ‘clean’ -Satish Vitta

Devil’s Advocate: Are solar electricity and electric vehicles really ‘clean’ -Satish Vitta

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published Published on Jul 2, 2021   modified Modified on Jul 7, 2021

-Down to Earth

A behind-the-scenes look helps one know that human as well as economic costs need to be paid upfront to make either solar grade silicon or put together a million lithium batteries

A recent analysis performed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shows that it is a business-as-usual scenario. The global average temperature has been 1.02 degrees Celsius (°C) higher than the baseline.

The World Meteorological Organization has announced the global average temperature to be 1.2°C above the baseline, much closer to 1.5°C for global warming, a limit to avoid catastrophic events, set by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed not only our individual lifestyle but also international business relations. The global warming trend seems to be well on course. On the other hand, the Democratic  Party coming to power in the US, has brought back the biggest emitter to the climate change discussions table, a truly positive development.

In light of these two events, the forthcoming 26th UN Conference of Parties to be held in November 2021 in Glasgow, UK, will assume great significance and hopefully will lead to considerable actions by the participating countries to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. 

Solar electricity and electric vehicles

Among the many drivers of global warming, electricity generation / consumption and transportation of people and goods have been identified as two important drivers which contribute almost 50% to the emissions load.

Against this backdrop, two non-food or agriculture technologies that have been projected and implemented as ‘clean alternatives’ to mitigate the global warming phenomenon are:

* Solar photovoltaics for electricity generation
* Electrification of transport

There is a general propensity to push these two alternatives in terms of energy and financial return on investments but very little is being said upfront about environmental cost and effect. Both these technologies indeed lead to significantly reduced emissions after they are implemented. The catchphrase here, however, is after!

Prior to their implementation, a lot of different human-made materials have to be synthesised from naturally-occurring raw materials. Then, these have to be put together as a functioning unit or a device for the specific purpose.

These processes, unfortunately, are both energy- and emissions-intensive and to realise the extent of these intensities, one needs to go behind the scene. There is little information or discussion in the public domain about upfront environmental cost as it is an inconvenient truth which cannot be wished away. So, let us look at these to better understand them and then arrive at a rational conclusion. 

Please click here to read more. 

 


Down to Earth, 2 July, 2021, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/environment/devil-s-advocate-are-solar-electricity-and-electric-vehicles-really-clean--77751


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