The Patriot Post® · China — Solar Scam
By Laurence F. Sanford
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), through its totalitarian Marxist rule of China, dominates the world’s so-called “green energy” industries of wind, solar, and batteries. Meanwhile, the United States, the world leader in energy independence and economic wealth, is committing societal suicide by dismantling its carbon-based energy civilization because of the elite leadership’s cult belief that fossil fuels cause climate change. They hold this belief despite the Earth’s history of climate change that was not caused by humanity and fossil fuels.
The CCP’s mouthing of commitment to climate change, clean energy, and reduced emissions of carbon dioxide is pure propaganda for “useful idiots” in the West. Actions speak louder than words. The CCP is currently building two coal power plants per week while it is already the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. In 2019, total world carbon dioxide emissions were 52 billion metric tons; China emitted 14.1 billion tons, while the U.S. emitted 5.7 million tons. China is the world’s largest energy producer and consumer, mining and burning more than half the world’s coal.
To the elite, intermittent solar and wind energy are the dream sources of clean energy and the panacea for climate change. But, like all dreams, one must wake up, and reality sets in. It is physically impossible for solar and wind to provide all the energy necessary for modern society to function.
In certain places and in certain circumstances, solar and wind with batteries can provide supplemental energy for homes and commercial buildings since the buildings are already hooked into the grid. However, solar panels cannot provide energy when:
- The sun goes down.
- Clouds hide the sun during sand/snow/ice/hail storms.
- Volcanic ash/ice/snow/dirt coats the panels.
- High winds from hurricanes and/or tornadoes rip off the panels.
Solar energy farms cannot provide reliable baseline energy into the grid. Most solar farms are built where there are no people and no access to existing transmission lines. Therefore, more land and more billions of dollars are needed for an intermittent source of energy.
Energy sources need to be available and online 24/7. Intermittent solar and wind with batteries cannot provide reliable energy. The solution to more carbon-free energy is safe, economical, reliable nuclear energy.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody pays something somewhere in the supply chain. That the sun’s rays are free is true, but they are available only half of the day. Capturing the sun’s rays for energy is not free but is very expensive and environmentally damaging. To dispose of solar panels damaged by hail, wind, or dust or that have outlived their life span of 15 to 20 years is expensive and environmentally damaging.
Recycling solar panels is difficult and expensive, which results in their being dumped in massive toxic landfills. Solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants. Nuclear waste is stored in heavy drums and regularly monitored. (A $7 billion underground storage facility was built in Nevada to store nuclear waste but is waiting for government approval to be utilized.) Solar waste ends up as electronic garbage.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are the basic building blocks of solar panels and are made of sandwiched layers of silicon plus another element, such as gallium, on which the CCP recently instituted export restrictions. Other materials in solar panels include silver, copper, lead, and aluminum.
Government subsidies are distorting economic efficiencies. Many of the raw materials used in the manufacture are mined in third-world countries utilizing child labor with no protections against environmental degradation. If solar is such a benefit to homeowners, why is a 30% tax credit on an average $16,000 installation necessary? Another benefit to the wealthy?
Reliance on Chinese-manufactured solar panels endangers U.S. national security and economic security. Approximately 70% of solar panel systems sold in the U.S. are of Chinese origin. Due to massive CCP subsidies, Chinese manufacturers sell their solar panels at below cost to drive foreign competition out of business. Hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing to China in the purchase of solar panels. Meanwhile, the U.S. carbon fuel industry is being degraded along with infrastructure, jobs, and national security.
To further penetrate the U.S. solar market and avoid tariffs on panels originating in China, five Chinese solar panel companies routed their operations through four other Southeast Asian countries. The U.S. Commerce Department initiated the investigation on the complaint of American company Auxin Solar, whose CEO, Mamun Rashid, said, “When the prices of finished panels from Southeast Asia come in below our bill of materials cost, American manufacturers cannot compete.” The administration then moved to waive the anti-circumvention tariffs on solar panels for two years until June 2024 after an outcry from domestic solar panel installers dependent upon Chinese imports.
The United States must decouple from CCP green energy solar, wind, and battery technologies. China has distorted market efficiencies with massive state subsidies to drive American competitors out of business. Yes to “free trade,” but no to “state trade.” The role of government is to defend its citizens. China is a clear and present danger.
Invest in nuclear power!
Laurence F. Sanford is a senior analyst at the American Security Council Foundation.