Can anyone help, please?adam2 wrote:AFAIK there IS a PV factory that is solar powered, though that does not of course mean that all the inputs to the factory are renewably powered.
Reference "all the inputs", I'm trying to track down peer reviewed studies that account for the embodied energy of the entire manufacturing supply chain.
The assembly factory needs to be built. The trucks supplying the assembly factory needs to be built. The factory in which the trucks supplying the assembly factory are built needs to be built. The factory smelting the ore needs to be built, as does the truck transporting the ore to the smelter, and the factory assembling the truck, and the factories assembling the infrastructure with which the trucks and factories are assembled.
AFAIK, current estimates of EROEI start by assuming the existence of a 21st century, global industrial manufacturing system. And AFAIK, any attempt to include the global industrial manufacturing system's energy requirements would blow any hope of solar presenting a viable source of renewable energy.
So can anyone point me at any studies which DO explicitly account for these energy sinks?
Thanks