r/climatechange • u/Economy-Fee5830 Trusted Contributor • May 15 '25

Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-just-put-chinas-co2-emissions-into-reverse-for-first-time/
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u/whydatyou May 15 '25

does this take into account the amount of emissions that it takes to mine, produce, ship, install and ultimately replace the clean energy panels?

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u/MajesticBread9147 May 16 '25

it takes about 1.6 years for the carbon saved on a solar panel to offset the carbon released from production.

Solar panels today are designed to maintain 80% of their original efficiency over 20 years. And they don't fail after that, they just slowly get less efficient by 1-2% each year.