Our View: Are some eco policies harming the environment?
The Green Party has filed a formal objection to a massive photovoltaic plant proposed for the Mathiatis-Analyontas-Lythrodontas triangle, in the Nicosia district.
The party is calling on all ecologically-aware people to submit their own objections and not let an important natural habitat be destroyed in the name of private interests. It says the project will cause serious and irreversible damage to the environment and suggests there has been some jiggery-pokery in the eco impact study. If true, this wouldn’t be the first time.
A bigger issue is, however, that green policies such as energy reduction and environmental protection are not always necessarily synonymous. Energy-reduction policies are often environmentally damaging due to unintended consequences as the world rushes headlong towards Net Zero, often it seems, without due regard to the long-term impact on the environment.
As an example, the recycling of EV batteries and the blades from wind turbines is still in its infancy causing even more environmental pollution at the moment. There is apparently not much money in recycling solar panels due to their 20-30-year lifespan. “The industry’s current circular capacity is woefully unprepared for the deluge of waste that is likely to come,” according to the Harvard Review.
There is a solar farm spread over acres of land in the Larnaca district where hundreds of solar panels sit covered in dust and are clearly not working at capacity. How often are they cleaned and how much water does it take to do the job in a country prone to drought?
According to MIT scientists, solar power is expected to reach 10 per cent of global power generation by the year 2030. They say the accumulation of dust on solar panels can reduce their output by as much as 30 per cent in a month. “Cleaning solar panels [globally] currently is estimated to use about ten billion gallons of water per year – enough to supply drinking water for up to 2 million people.”
And we’re still five years away from reaching that 10 per cent of global solar-energy production. How much more land and resources are going to be needed by 2050 – the Net Zero holy grail?
Of course, the powers-that-be in Brussels and in Cyprus don’t want to hear about the environmental or human impacts of their policies. They’re heavily invested in being right but also may not have factored human greed into their forecasts.
The energy industry, whether it’s based on fossil fuels or on renewables, is still an industry and still profit-driven. ‘Greenwashing’ is not a figment. The word ‘green’ has become a free pass. It’s akin to printing the word ‘vegan’ on a bag of carrots. Marketing.
Although there are those with good intentions and a genuine interest in improving things for the planet and future generations, there is also a mentality of cashing-in, which is not a new phenomenon in Cyprus’ copycat culture. More is not always better.