Solar Panels are Poisoning Chinese

Those solar panels? A byproduct of their manufacture is a deadly toxin that cannot be safely dumped anywhere. Except in China, where its okay because they still have too many people anyways, which is why they extended their one child per family policy for another ten years.

From the WaPo here:

Stopping between the cornfields and the primary school playground, the workers dumped buckets of bubbling white liquid onto the ground. This ritual has been going on almost every day for nine months.

The dumpers: It’s a green energy company, producing polysilicon destined for solar energy panels sold around the world. But the byproduct of polysilicon production — silicon tetrachloride — is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards.

“The land where you dump or bury it will be infertile. No grass or trees will grow in the place. . . . It is like dynamite — it is poisonous, it is polluting. Human beings can never touch it,” said Ren Bingyan, a professor at the School of Material Sciences at Hebei Industrial University.

Forests are being cleared to grow biofuels like palm oil, but scientists argue that the disappearance of such huge swaths of forests is contributing to climate change. Hydropower dams are being constructed to replace coal-fired power plants, but they are submerging whole ecosystems under water.

The article makes you want to believe that this is not really a big deal. To say that silicon tetrachloride poses “environmental hazards” is like saying spent nuclear fuel rods are “dirty.” And why did they have to quote a professor in China on the hazards? There are plenty of sources in the US that could state plainly that the chemical is not to be trifled with.

This sounds like how bad the Prius is compared to the Hummer. Thanks to Moonbattery for the story.