Solar power plants stand as major culprits in lead emissions and lead poisoning in India and China, according to a study conducted by a University of Tennessee-Knoxville professor Chris Cherry. Solar plants make significant use of lead batteries.
The study announcement declared that up to 2.4 million tons of lead emissions could result from the use of these unsafe batteries:
His study, co-authored with Perry Gottesfeld of Occupational Knowledge International (OK International), appears in the September issue of the journal Energy Policy.
Lead pollution predicted to result from investments in solar power by 2022 is equivalent to one-third of current global lead production. The researchers, who relied on official government plans for deploying solar power to make these projections, also found that the countries have large amounts of lead leak into the environment from mining, smelting, battery manufacturing, and recycling—33 percent in China and 22 percent in India. Also, a large percentage of new solar power systems continues to be reliant on lead batteries for energy storage due to the inadequate power grid in these countries.
Cherry called on the solar industry to require their lead battery partners to minimize the emissions.
Three U.S. solar power companies have declared bankruptcy this year, which makes China the dominant nation in the solar power industry.
One of those companies, Solyndra LLC, received a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government. President Obama called the company a “true engine of economic growth” during a visit to the plant last year.
