Sun Down: Konarka Technologies Files for Bankruptcy

[Nathanael]

Konarka Technologies, a developer of thin-film solar panels, has filed for bankruptcy and will begin to liquidate its assets immediately.

The failure of Massachusetts-based company will lead to 85 employees losing their jobs, and another perceived black eye for America's solar industry.

In a statement, Howard Berke, Konarka's CEO explained the reasons for the bankruptcy: "Konarka has been unable to obtain additional financing, and given its current financial condition, it is unable to continue operations. This is a tragedy for Knoarka's shareholders and employees and for the development of alternative energy in the United States."

Link: http://www.energyboom.com/finance/konarka-technologies-files-bankruptcy

[Systematic Chaos]

1. OH NOES!! TEH KONARKA SOLERZ IZ NOT GONNA SAVE US!!!!

I guess as long as all the carcinogenic byproducts of solar panel manufacture remain spilled on the ground in China, so they don't have to be spilled on the ground over here, it's all good!

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. “carcinogenic byproducts of solar panel manufacture”

Solar panel manufacture does not inevitably lead to toxic spills, any more than polyester manufacture does.

One way to cut corners is to not follow clean practices.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1163884/1/.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Excess heavy metals found in 10% of China's land[/font]

Posted: 07 November 2011 1531 hrs

[font size=3]BEIJING: About 10 per cent of China's farmland contains excessive levels of heavy metals due to contaminated water and poisonous waste seeping into the soil, state media said Monday, citing a government survey.

Pollution from heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cancer-causing cadmium is often blamed for poisoning entire villages and crop-growing land in China as factory bosses flout environmental laws and farmers use toxic fertilisers.

…

Thousands of residents in the northeastern city of Dalian protested in August against a factory that made paraxylene, a flammable carcinogenic liquid used in the production of polyester films and fabrics.

In September, more than 500 residents living near a plant making solar panels protested for three days in the eastern city of Haining, forcing authorities to temporarily shut the factory.

…[/font][/font]

[Systematic Chaos]

3. I believe the point is that the Mafia running things in China won't give two shits about...

...'clean practices' until it's half past too late.

And yes, a great number of the Chinese 'cancer villages' are due to the manufacture of solar panels and electronics in general.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. I didn't take that meaning from your posting

I guess as long as all the carcinogenic byproducts of solar panel manufacture remain spilled on the ground in China, so they don't have to be spilled on the ground over here, it's all good!

It appeared from this that you believe that the “carcinogenic byproducts of solar panel manufacture” will either be spilled on the ground here or in China (depending on where the panels are manufactured.)

[Systematic Chaos]

5. What I was really trying to say is that part of what makes the Chinese panels so cheap...

...is the lack of environmental concern over there.

That is among the reasons why their crap will remain so cheap. Labor costs factor in but they're sadly not the whole story.

[kristopher]

6. That is a standard right wing anti-environmental talking point

The cost of environmental regulations are almost nothing. In fact in many cases such as solar, it is actually cheaper in the long term to recycle waste than it is to buy more raw materials.

Perhaps you should look to different sources for your information.

[XemaSab]

7. The cost of environmental regulations are (sic) almost nothing?

You have a link for that?

Also, it may be cheaper in the long term, but what do the numbers look like in the short term?

[kristopher]

10. Do you have a link for the right wing claim that environmentalism is an economic problem?

[XemaSab]

12. Obviously it's not an economic problem for me

since I get my paycheck from environmental compliance measures.

Did you know that even a simple dam relicensing for a minor dam can have costs of over 6 million dollars for the environmental review alone?

I bet you didn't know that, did you?

[kristopher]

13. Another post having absolutely nothing to do with the point?

Do you or do you not have a link to an authoritative source that says environmental regulations place the US at a competitive disadvantage with China or even within a state to state context?

I am sure you do not because it simply isn't true.

[XemaSab]

14. Why do you think California imports coal power from out-of-state?

[OKIsItJustMe]

16. Perhaps it's just my bias

1. Coal power is cheap, and in an environment where a company like Enron flourishes, cheap wins.
2. Californians want cheap electricity, but don't want big, dirty coal plants in their "back yards."
3. California doesn’t have large coal deposits of her own to exploit.

[XemaSab]

17. 4. The regulatory hurdles for building a coal plant in this state

(even way the hell out in the desert) are insurmountable.

[OKIsItJustMe]

18. (Your #4 is actually my #2 rephrased)

#3 may be more significant than you realize. After all, which is easier to bring into California, coal or electricity?

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/08/AR2008030802595_pf.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China[/font]

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 9, 2008

[font size=3]GAOLONG, China -- The first time Li Gengxuan saw the dump trucks from the nearby factory pull into his village, he couldn't believe what happened. Stopping between the cornfields and the primary school playground, the workers dumped buckets of bubbling white liquid onto the ground. Then they turned around and drove right back through the gates of their compound without a word.

…

In China, a country buckling with the breakneck pace of its industrial growth, such stories of environmental pollution are not uncommon. But the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co., here in the central plains of Henan Province near the Yellow River, stands out for one reason: It's a green energy company, producing polysilicon destined for solar energy panels sold around the world. But the byproduct of polysilicon production -- silicon tetrachloride -- is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards.

…

Because of the environmental hazard, polysilicon companies in the developed world recycle the compound, putting it back into the production process. But the high investment costs and time, not to mention the enormous energy consumption required for heating the substance to more than 1800 degrees Fahrenheit for the recycling, have discouraged many factories in China from doing the same. Like Luoyang Zhonggui, other solar plants in China have not installed technology to prevent pollutants from getting into the environment or have not brought those systems fully online, industry sources say.

…

He said that if environmental protection technology is used, the cost to produce one ton is approximately $84,500. But Chinese companies are making it at $21,000 to $56,000 a ton.

…[/font][/font]

[Systematic Chaos]

9. Thank you -- this is exactly the article I had in mind when I was posting upthread.

And "right wing talking point" my fucking soon-to-be-NOT-fat white ass, by the way.

You want to throw that kind of rhetoric around just as much as you copy and paste the same fucking vapid shit over and over and over AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN!!

I'm so far in the left-libertarian corner in those political quizzes that I'd fall right off the chart in a mild breeze, so don't tell me any shit about being a right-winger or a republican, ever again.

You fucking understand me, Kris??

Most of this reply was NOT directed at OKIsItJustMe, obviously. Just needed to vent.

[kristopher]

11. You are parroting a right wing talking point.

The claim that environmental regulations are at the root of problems with US economic competitiveness is straight out of the Heritage Foundation. It is a mainstay talking point of every right winger out there.

If you don't like being called on it, then don't spread it.

[OKIsItJustMe]

15. Shall we say that the Right Wing exaggerates?

Clearly, they are (at least) a contributing factor.