The US Could Supply 80 Percent of Its Energy with Wind and Solar

Those who say it is impossible to reduce the US’ dependence on fossil fuels might want to take a look at this article. It just takes the political will (and a lot of cash).

It would require an infrastructure overhaul costing hundreds of billions—if not trillions—of dollars, but technically speaking, it’s possible. Daniel Oberhaus Feb 27 2018, 9:44pm Image: American Wind Energy Association A new report out today in Energy and Environmental Science shows that a conversion to an 80 percent solar and […]

“The sun sets and the wind doesn’t always blow,” Steven Davis, an associate professor of Earth system science at UC Irvine, said in a statement. “If we want a reliable power system based on these resources, how do we deal with their daily and seasonal changes?”

The first step in the process was identifying just what those seasonal changes were and how they related to seasonal energy demand. Obviously, solar power can only be collected during the day, but the amount of solar energy available also fluctuates with the seasons—there’s 3.7 times more sun during the longest days of the summer compared to the shortest days of winter.

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