Originally Posted by Justice Strike

Heat does not travel back into space in the form it is in on earth. Space is Vacuum, heat can only radiate trough space. And if co2 has no effect on that, then there is no green house effect.


solar panels trap more energy then rocks and trees. Infact we need the polar ice to reflect light.

Originally Posted by TheChief

Yes and radiate it does. When the sun goes down it get cold very quickly. Whatever heat buildup by panels will be miniscule. You can't really make dramatic changes to the weather.

Originally Posted by Justice Strike

So basicly, what you are saying. The green house effect doesn't exist.

Originally Posted by Diuretic

That's an egregious misrepresentation. So basically what you're saying is that you don't understand a thing about the climate change argument.

Originally Posted by Justice Strike

How so? can you tell my why solar power is so much better? I'm not saying that it is a bad thing. I'm just saying that where moving the problem around.

Originally Posted by Diuretic

That's an egregious misrepresentation. So basically what you're saying is that you don't understand a thing about the climate change argument.

Originally Posted by Foul-Mouthed-Margaret

You stated, quite clearly, that solar power was bad for the environment. So, yes, you did say it was a bad thing. Now, in a backpedal not seen since John Kerry's run for President, you're trying to say that you didn't say it was a bad thing. Make up your mind.



I think in your effort to try to simplify a rather complex problem you've completely lost your bearings. We are NOT increasing the power output from outside the planet. Simple physics - energy can neither be created or destroyed. We are simply taking energy that would be absorbed by the planet itself and are diverting that energy for our own purposes. It is NOT trapped here any more so than if it was absorbed by a rock.

Moreover, water vapour (and not CO2 as you claimed) is the main contributor to the greenhouse effect.



It might resemble math, but it aint good math. A crappy formula will always produce idiotic results. There is no more input. Using a solar panel does NOT cause the sun to send more energy our way. Input remains the same.

Originally Posted by Windigo

Well the OPs point is a little moot. Yes most all of that solar power eventually becomes heat loss but that would have happened anyways. It is surprisingly true that solar, wind and all other intermittent forms of power generations do contribute to CO2.

Take any business looking to go green and reduce their carbon footprint. Their resident engineer suggests that they buy a highly efficient gas turbine. The executives however are aghast that anyone would suggest that they use a CO2 emitting method of generation and instead choose to install solar panels on their roof. For the sake of argument lets claim that these panels are able to provide 100% of their maximum load(highly unlikely). Now the executives are happy becasue their solution is 100% green. The engineer is fired.

But who's idea was more green? The engineers. Solar power is intermittent. Frequently and often you have to rely on the grid to supply you power. And that coal based grid releases a lot of CO2 per kWh. Sure they may be 100% green while their panels are able to supply their load but most of the time they are still sucking from the grid to some degree polluting like they always did. Had they gone with the engineers idea they would have reduced their CO2 "footprint" by a large amount every minute of every day far exceeding the reduction achieved by installing intermittent solar generation.

As someone who works in the power field I cant tell you that just about every time I tell someone who wants to make their building green that a gas turbine will result in lower emissions than solar panels they are floored and usually in a state of denial.

That same hold true in the large scale. If you truly want to reduce CO2 emissions you would favor large scale nuclear, hydro, and geothermal(where available) those are the true no CO2 solutions. Solar and Wind due to their intermittent nature can never stand alone and will always have to be supported by a large amount of fossil fuel generators.