Solar power is not all sunshine. It has a dark side - particularlyin developing countries, according to a new study by a Universityof Tennessee, Knoxville, engineering professor. A study by Chris Cherry, assistant professor in civil andenvironmental engineering, found that solar power heavily relianton lead batteries has the potential to release more than 2.4million tons of lead pollution in China and India. Lead poisoning causes numerous adverse health effects, includingdamage to the central nervous system, the kidneys, thecardiovascular system, and the reproductive system.
In children,blood lead concentration is associated with learning impairments,as well as hyperactive and violent behavior. His study, co-authored with Perry Gottesfeld of OccupationalKnowledge International (OK International), appears in theSeptember issue of the journal Energy Policy. Lead pollution predicted to result from investments in solar powerby 2022 is equivalent to one-third of current global leadproduction. The researchers, who relied on official governmentplans for deploying solar power to make these projections, alsofound that the countries have large amounts of lead leak into theenvironment from mining, smelting, battery manufacturing, andrecycling - 33 percent in China and 22 percent in India.
Also, alarge percentage of new solar power systems continues to be relianton lead batteries for energy storage due to the inadequate powergrid in these countries. The study's release comes on the heels of reports of a large numberof mass lead poisoning incidents around lead battery recycling andmanufacturing plants in China and the announcement that the countryrecently closed 583 of these facilities. "Investments in environmental controls in the lead batteryindustry, along with improvements in battery take-back policies,are needed to complement deployment of solar power in thesecountries," said Cherry. "Without improvements, it is increasinglyclear that the use of lead batteries will contribute toenvironmental contamination and lead poisoning among workers andchildren." The battery industry is the largest consumer of lead, usingapproximately 80 percent of global lead production. Lead batterymanufacturing is growing rapidly in much of the world to meetdemand for batteries for solar power and other applications.
Withthe authors' projected emissions, they say this will impact publichealth and contribute to environmental contamination. "The solar industry has to step up and take responsibility forensuring that their lead battery suppliers are operating withadequate controls as long as they are going to be reliant on thistechnology," said Gottesfeld. "Without major improvements in themanufacturing and recycling lead batteries in these countries, weexpect that lead poisoning will increase as the industry grows." The projections outlined in the study, while based on plansarticulated by these two countries, are likely to be repeatedthroughout much of the developing world, such as in Africa. Additional References Citations. I am a professional writer from Food Additives, which contains a great deal of information about copper fire bowls , counter top grills, welcome to visit!
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