important

Recycling solar panels

September 2, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The use of solar energy has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. It is the fastest growing source of energy in the U.S. Solar panels have a useful life of about 25 to 30 years and there are growing numbers that have been around that long. They contain valuable materials, including silver, copper, and aluminum, as well as some hazardous materials, so just committing them to landfills is a bad idea from many perspectives.

Recycling solar panels is a relatively new but increasingly important business. At the present time, roughly 90% of panels that have lost their efficiency due to age or that are defective end up in landfills because that is much cheaper than recycling them. The best option is to reuse them where their reduced efficiency is acceptable. This includes in developing nations or in other places that are able to make use of the lower power in exchange for lower installation cost.

Estimates are that the area covered by solar panels in the U.S. that are due to retire by 2030 would cover about 3,000 football fields. The amount of potential waste contained in all of those panels is quite substantial.

There are new companies dedicated to solar panel recycling such as one called SolarCycle that are trying to change this situation. It is much more expensive to have SolarCycle take away solar panels than to send them to landfills, but it is difficult to find landfills that accept panels and many clients want to minimize the environmental impact of their old panels.

Only 10% of retired solar panels are currently recycled. That that is likely to change as economics and regulations continue to evolve.

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As Millions of Solar Panels Age Out, Recyclers Hope to Cash In

Photo, posted November 23, 2024, courtesy of Mussi Katz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Benefits of electric school buses

July 1, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are about half a million school buses in use in the U.S. A large number of them are older, highly polluting diesel buses. There are well-established health and climate benefits of switching from diesel vehicles to electric vehicles but making the switch is expensive. Diesel buses generally cost between $65,000 to $120,000, depending on the type and configuration. Electric buses cost about $250,000 each.

The substantial cost makes it a difficult decision for local, state, and federal officials, particularly since the actual magnitude of the benefits is not well known.

A new study by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health has quantified these benefits. According to the study, replacing each bus may yield up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits. These benefits derive from fewer greenhouse gas emissions and from reduced rates of adult mortality and childhood asthma.

The study compared the amounts of carbon dioxide emitted from diesel bus tailpipes to the emissions associated with generating electricity for the buses and producing their batteries. It also compared how these respective emissions contribute to fine particulate air pollution, which is linked to adult mortality and the onset of childhood asthma. The study concluded that particularly in dense urban settings, the savings incurred from electrifying older school buses easily outweigh the costs of replacing them.

An important question not tackled in the study is how electric school buses impact children’s exposure to in-cabin air pollution while riding the bus. This issue could further inform policy decisions.

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Electric school buses may yield significant health and climate benefits, cost savings

Photo, posted May 9, 2008, courtesy of Christine H. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Progress on offshore wind in New York

April 1, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York has now conditionally awarded two offshore wind projects that will move towards operation in 2026. The projects, totaling more than 1,700 megawatts of power, will be the largest power generation projects in New York state in more than 35 years. It is an important milestone toward achieving the state’s goal of developing 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035.

Empire Wind I, located 15 miles southeast of Long Island, and Sunrise Wind, located more than 30 miles east of the eastern point of Long Island, have already completed most federal and state permitting requirements. Empire Wind I received final approval of their Construction and Operation Plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late February.

Both projects are expected to ramp up construction activity this year. Previous awards by NYSERDA for the projects in 2019 included contract provisions for specific economic benefits to New York communities and commitments for purchasing iron and steel from American sources. Empire Wind I is being developed by Equinor, an international energy company headquartered in Norway. Sunrise Wind, originally a joint project by Ørsted and Eversource, is now solely being developed by Ørsted, a global energy company based in Denmark.

Following successful execution of the contracts for the two projects, NYSERDA payments under these awards will only begin once the projects have obtained all required permits and approvals, the construction has been completed, and the projects begin delivering clean energy to New York.

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New York selects Empire Wind I and Sunrise Wind offshore projects

Photo, posted June 14, 2022, courtesy of Lissa Eng / BOEM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Salt Marshes And Climate Change | Earth Wise

May 5, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by salt water brought in and out by the tides. These low-lying wetlands are also sometimes called tidal marshes because they occur in the zone between low and high tides. These wetlands are some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth.

Cape Cod’s beautiful salt marshes are as important as they are iconic. They act as carbon sinks, protect coastal development from storm surge, play an outsized role in nitrogen cycling, and provide critical habitats for many fish, shellfish, and coastal birds.

According to scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, more than 90% of salt marshes around the world are likely to be underwater by the end of the century.

Since 1971, scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory have mapped vegetative cover in Great Sippewissett Marsh in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to examine whether increased nitrogen in the environment would impact species of marsh grass. Because of the length of the study, the researchers were also able to investigate the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem, especially those driven by accelerating sea level rise.

The research team found that increased nitrogen favored higher levels of vegetation and accretion of the marsh surface. However, the researchers found that salt marshes will not be able to outpace the submergence from global sea level rise – no matter how much nitrogen is applied.

Sea level rise is the biggest threat to salt marshes around the world. Mitigating some of these projected losses is critical in order for salt marshes to continue to provide their important ecosystem services for people and the planet.

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Most of the World’s Salt Marshes Could Succumb to Sea Level Rise by Turn of Century

Photo, posted September 27, 2011, courtesy of Chris M Morris via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Geoengineering Research Plan | Earth Wise

July 22, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The 2022 federal appropriations act, signed into law in March, directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a cross-agency group to coordinate research on climate interventions, in partnership with NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Energy.

The group is tasked with creating a research framework to “provide guidance on transparency, engagement, and risk management for publicly funded work on solar geoengineering research.” The group is supposed to develop a five-year plan that will define research goals for the field, assess the potential hazards of climate interventions, and evaluate the level of federal funding required to carry out the work.

This marks the first federally coordinated effort of this kind and is especially significant because it contributes to the perception that geoengineering is an appropriate and important area of research as the climate continues to warm.

It is an understatement to say that such research is controversial. Geoengineering has often been a taboo topic among scientists. There are significant questions about potential environmental side effects and concerns that the impact of any such efforts would be felt unevenly in different parts of the world. There are challenging questions about global governance , including who should be able to make decisions about any potential deployment of climate interventions and what the goals of such interventions should be.

These are momentous issues to grapple with, but as the threat of climate change grows and nations continue to fail to make rapid progress on emissions, researchers, universities, and nations are increasingly motivated to seriously explore the potential effects of geoengineering approaches. We can’t hide from the fact that these issues are going to be explored.

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The US government is developing a solar geoengineering research plan

Photo, posted June 28, 2013, courtesy of Fernando Aramburu via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Importance Of City Trees | Earth Wise

January 28, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is well known that green spaces can improve the quality of life and create a better climate in cities. City trees and vegetation can help reduce urban heat island effects by shading buildings and roads, deflecting radiation from the sun, and releasing moisture into the atmosphere. City trees and green spaces have also been proven to increase property values, promote wildlife and plant diversity, reduce noise pollution, and improve human health. But how important are trees and vegetation for producing cleaner air in cities?

According to a new study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, trees do contribute to cleaner air in cities, but the degree to which they do so varies greatly between different locations.

The research team measured air pollutants across seven urban settings in the city of Gothenburg, and compared them with pollutants on the leaves of deciduous trees. The researchers chose to focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are pollutants generated primarily during the incomplete combustion of organic materials, like coal, oil, and wood.

The results revealed that the pollutants in leaves did increase over time. The researchers were able to show a clear correlation between the level of air pollutants and the concentration of pollutants in leaves.

But at the same time, the researchers discovered that pollution levels varied greatly between measurement sites. For example, the levels of PAHs were seven times higher at the most polluted site (the city’s main bus station) than they were at a location on the periphery of the city.

The research team hopes its findings will be used to help guide the planning of future urban landscapes.

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Trees are important for cleaner air in cities

Photo, posted November 5, 2021, courtesy of Maria Eklind via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Importance Of Double-Cropping | Earth Wise

July 28, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In agriculture, double-cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops or commodities on the same piece of land in the same calendar year. In Brazil, grain production has increased more than fourfold between 1980 and 2016. The country now stands as the world’s largest exporter of soybeans and the second largest exporter of corn. There were two primary drivers of this increase in food production: cropland expansion and double-cropping.

Cropland expansion has long been recognized as a key driver behind the increase in Brazil’s agricultural output. But cropland expansion is also a threat to biodiversity by driving habitat loss, deforestation, and an increase in carbon emissions.

A new study recently published in the journal Nature Food quantified for the first time the impact that double-cropping had on helping Brazil achieve its tremendous growth in grain production. The international research team examined data from three key agricultural regions in Brazil: the Centre-West, Southeast-South, and Matopiba region. These three regions accounted for 79% of soybean production and 85% of corn production in 2016.

Soybean fields account for more than one third of Brazil’s cropland. While the increase in soybean production was largely a result of cropland expansion, the increase in corn production was a result of double-cropping.

Between 2003 and 2016, the study found that double-cropping in Brazil offset the equivalent of approximately 190 million acres of arable land for corn production. (This is more than twice the annual harvested area of corn in the United States).

Double-cropping represents a way to produce more food without clearing more land.

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The impact of double-cropping

Photo, posted July 15, 2009, courtesy of Daniel Bauer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Rapid Response To Climate Change More Important Than Ever

October 17, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a new report emphasizing the importance of taking rapid action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and examining the consequences of allowing temperatures to rise 2 degrees instead.

Another CO2 Milestone

May 22, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The global concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at 400 parts per million for the first time in recorded history in May of 2013. It was a brief event at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii at the time. Within the next couple of years, however, readings of at least 400 ppm became standard.