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There is a new organization of engineers and high-profile people working on a project to push states to be 100% green renewable energy by 2050. The Solutions Project - 100% Renewable Energy
It will save people money and create thousands of new jobs in each state.
I love these pie in the sky posts. There isn't anyway that you could transfer the entire U.S. population to green energy in 30 years. It just won't happen. Wind energy is expensive without federal and state tax credits. The wind turbines require regular maintenance, and only produce enough power to be profitable with wind speeds of 25 mph to 40 mph. Above 40 mph, the brakes are used to keep the rotating speed of the turbine at a safe level, again increasing cost. The expected cost of maintenance is 3 to 5 per cent of the cost of the turbine per year. So a 1.5 million commercial turbine will cost at least $45,000.00 per year in maintenance. That percentage will increase as the turbine nears its end life. If the wind doesn't blow consistently enough, the turbine won't make a profit. This is why solar, in the long term, is the only viable way to power the country economically.
Solar however, has it's drawbacks as well. Some parts of the country don't get enough sun to provide all of their power. Transporting energy from areas with a large amount of sun, to areas without it will require huge amounts of money to build new transmission lines.
There is no silver bullet here. I think that utilities, on their own, will slowly start to add solar to their network, but it will not be able to replace all fossil fuel, coal, and nuclear power.
My electric company recently added an additional 1,000 commercial solar panels, to the 9,000 they already have. During summer days, they can produce 11% of the total power consumed. However, during the frozen winters, that drops to less than 3%. They can continue to add solar, and maybe one day during the summer 100% of the electricity could be solar. Even then, they will have to have a backup system for nights, and for the winter.
It's not feasible with our energy consumption which keeps going up..
I recommend nuclear power specifically thorium nuclear power. There is meltdown proof nuclear reactor technology, we should utilize that and meet most of our energy needs via nuclear power.
It's a win-win solution
Until there is an economical way to store vast amounts of electricity for use when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, wind and solar will not get to 100%.
The state of Hawaii has pledged to be 100 renewable by 2045.
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