A new method of creating inexpensive lights from aluminium foil avoids the mercury pollution problem of CFL lights, but can somebody tell me how much energy goes into making the foil? A lot, I'd guess. In a similar vein, researchers have been checking whether the impacts of PV cell manufacture are worse than the the benefits of reducing the need for traditional power stations:
Making solar or photovoltaic cells requires potentially toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium. It even produces greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that contribute to global warming. Still, the researchers found that if people switched from conventional fossil fuel-burning power plants to solar cells, air pollution would be cut by roughly 90 percent.
I saw a 'how do they' TV show on how they make foil and yes, it looks extremely energy intensive.
Posted by: Dax Villanueva | 14 March 2008 at 10:42 AM