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"Planet of the Humans" devotes way too much time to echoing outdated and downright false fossil industry tropes about renewable energy, and way too little to the larger point it claims to be making, that Western "civilization" is not sustainable, and techno fixes alone will not save it. System change is necessary. But by spending most of its energy attacking renewable energy and the environmental movement, it exacerbates the problem.
Flat out lies (such as the claim that solar and wind require as much or more fossil energy than they produce); and half truths early on in the film destroy it's credibility.. Outdated statistics and fossil industry talking points paint a negative view of solar and wind power. Electric vehicles are over 90% efficient vs. a max of about 25% for fossil vehicles; if powered by solar they are a no brainer. This is why no less than Pete Seeger drove an electric pickup truck. The array in Lansing Michigan is said to be 8% efficient. Most solar panels today are between 15 and 20 % efficient. It was said to power 10 homes. It has at least 50 times as many as the 10 panels that fully power my house. Germany is shown on one chart to get 1.5% of it's power from solar, and another shows a much higher proportion. Currently, Germany has to give away excess solar generation on the sunniest days.
Vivid jarring images of mining and grinding up ancient Joshua trees etc. suggest that solar and wind power are more destructive than fossil fuels. Siting issues early on have largely been resolved. All mines need to clean up their act; singling out renewable energy is disingenuous at best. For every kilo of neodymium used for the magnet in a wind generator, untold barrels of oil remain in the ground, and the neodymium is reusable. Lithium mining for batteries is an issue which may be behind the recent fascist coup in Bolivia. But that lithium is highly recyclable. Solar and wind represent a minute fraction of the destruction of fossil fuels. The mirror based solar plants the film focuses on (no pun intended) have largely been supplanted by photovoltaic panels. PV works best on individual rooftops; no joshua trees need be cut. Images in the film suggest that solar panels use huge amounts of coal; in reality they are mainly made of highly refined silicon, i.e.sand or quartz. A PV panel typically recoups the energy used to manufacture it in about 6 - 12 months of use. And despite another false assertion in the film, that panels last 10 years, most panels are guaranteed to maintain at least 80% of output for 20 years. I recently gave away some panels made in the '70's that were still working just fine. Batteries last at least 10 years, not the "few years" in the film, and are constantly improving. Grid tied solar obviates the need for batteries, and supplants the fossil fuel and nuclear generation that currently power the grid. Years ago, fossil companies bought up solar companies for the purpose of greenwashing and keeping them off the market. Thanks to U.S. suppression of solar energy, China ran with it, and today produces most of the panels. In 2016 alone, China installed the equivalent of 34 nuclear power plants in solar PV. Does Koch industry make some panels? I never heard of them, but would boycott that brand if i did.
At an Earth day festival claiming to run on 100% renewable, the film shows a back up diesel generator for the solar panels. Unmentioned, but visible, tho blurry is a BIODIESEL label on the generator. Biodiesel is made from waste vegetable oil.
If, as the film asserts, major deforestation is occurring to fuel biomass generation, that is an issue, for sure. Any type of burning for electricity generation is at best about 30% efficient. Bill McKibbin supported a small Vermont college converting a fossil heating plant to woodchips. He and most other environmental activists repudiated large scale wood burning plants years ago. And no environmentalists support burning plastic waste or treated wood for electric power or any other purpose! The film trashes environmental leaders with lies. All our favorite environmental organizations like 350.org, Union of Concerned Scientists, Sierra Club etc. are secretly in cahoots with billionaires intent on destroying the planet. Real billionaires and the likes of Breitbart are laughing all the way to the bank over this film. I wonder what Michael Moore's cut was.
The underlying point the film claims to be making is important. Our whole civilization is on a collision course with disaster. Renewable energy is one of the bright spots in the otherwise bleak picture of man's impact on the Earth, but alone is not sufficient. Burning rainforests for beef production, factory farms, destroying habitat for palm oil and ten thousand other assaults on Mother Earth need to be stopped. But to the extent folks not familiar with the contribution much cleaner energy can make are discouraged from moving away from fossil fuels, "Planet of the Humans" makes the situation even more dire. Thanks for less than nothing, Michael. I will view anything else you produce with a very jaundiced eye if at all.
Ed Haffmans
