While solar is a far less polluting energy source than coal or natural gas, many panel makers are nevertheless grappling with a hazardous waste problem.
Considering the opportunities to treat gas that would otherwise be flared, to unlock otherwise uneconomic shale and conventional gas fields, and increasing opportunities for biomass, waste and coal conversion, small-scale GTL may well have a significant niche to fill in our emerging energy picture.
Energy derived from natural gas and coal-fired power plants, for example, creates more than 10 times more hazardous waste than the same energy created by a solar panel, according to Mulvaney.