Is Solar Green Energy?

While researching the emissions of electricity to find out how clean an electric car really is, I was surprised to find solar green energy still produces a good deal of CO2.

While the numbers I have come across for the exact amount of Co2 emissions compared to that of coal, wind, nuclear power were a bit conflicting It only raises my suspicions more.

One source says from a study in 2000 that CO2 Emissions in grams per kWh for Photovoltaïc solar is 60g-150g. They also estimate that burning coal is about 800g-1050g per kwh. The problem with these statistics is that they are from 2000. I would hope that solar green energy has come a long way since then. In turn I would also hope that the new regulations on coal burning power plants have reduced their emissions as well in the past 11 years.

The average cost per kWh in the US right now is about $0.11. According to research we are still getting about 50-65% of our energy from coal while so called green sources only average about 5-10%.

As an alternative to solar green energy many people are now turning to wind energy. So how does wind energy comapre with the emmisions of solar and coal? According to the same study wind energy emits 3-22g of co2 per kWh. This is considerably better than even solar energy.

With the new green movement picking up speed we really need to start considering the ideas we are supporting. Every good cause has a few people who just want to make a buck from rising popularity. The most important thing to do is think before you invest/buy!