How much waste do solar panels and wind turbines produce?

Solar and wind produce less waste than coal; but they can reduce waste even further, writes Hannah Ritchie.

Hannah Ritchie

You might have seen the graph opposite from a recent paper from Heather Mirletz and colleagues, published in Nature Physics.1 It has been shared a lot in my circles on social media. The authors estimate that solar waste in 2050 will be very small compared to other waste flows. Between 2016 and 2050, solar waste generation would amount to 54 to 160 million tonnes: less than one-tenth of e-waste streams, and at least 99.6% less than coal ash and municipal waste. This is important context given mounting fears about huge quantities of dumped panels. This work was focused on solar, but other studies have looked at projections for wind power. A study by Pu Liu and Clare Barlow estimated that global cumulative turbine waste by 2050 would be around 42…

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Renew (Digital) - 1 Issue, 170 / Jan-Mar 2025

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