Mike Prior-JonesI’ve seen a few people posting stuff saying that renewable energy systems (solar, battery, wind) aren’t sustainable because they still need mining and processing to make them in the first place. This is disingenuous and seems like green purity-spiral stuff (and I have unfollowed one person posting it).
woollypigs@drmikepj I heard one podcast talking about recycling the solar panels and lithium batteries. One reason why there aren't big infrastructure to do so now is that these things have a life span of 20+ years. So not enough old stuff laying around to be recycled yet to make it a business.
@woollypigs even better - turns out they last a lot longer than forecast, so many of the 30-year-old panels that are out there are still doing sterling service and don't need replacing! So yes, at some point they'll be recycled, but they don't need to be yet.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/30-year-old-solar-panels-still-going-strong/4022052.article
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/el/d4el00040d
@drmikepj yes even better.