What would it take for the world to convert to 100% renewable energy? According to two researchers, a massive build-out of solar and windpower could accomplish the task by 2030.
It would include 4 million wind turbines (very large 5MW turbines); 90,000 large-scale solar power plants (each with a capacity of about 300MW); and 1.7 billion 3-kilowatt rooftop solar PV systems.
While the task may be politically insurmountable, the major resources of steel, concrete and minerals are available. The researchers say. Rare earth supply–which has been a hot topic of late–would be the only bottleneck. However, this could be overcome with increased mining, recycling and work-around technologies.
"We wanted to show that wind, water, and solar power are available to meet demand, indefinitely," study co-author Mark Delucchi told National Geographic.
The detailed study was published last month in the journal Energy Policy. Nat Geo’s Mason Inman explores the idea at the link below.
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This is great. If the political will could be mustered even in one municipality, it could greatly influence nearby communities.