Making the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy is perhaps the most significant step that the modern world can take towards a sustainably-powered future, but it isn’t one that we can feasibly make at this moment. Sunlight and wind are inherently unreliable power sources, despite how clean they may be.
Current solar and wind power technology, though constantly improving, can’t compete with traditional energy just yet. Wind turbines are restrained by the Betz limit, only able to capture about 60 percent of kinetic energy. The conversion capacity of photons to electrons in silicon photovoltaic cells that make up solar panels can’t surpass the Shockley-Queisser Limit of a 34 percent conversion rate.
One of the best batteries in the world, the Tesla Gigafactory, can store about 24 gigawatt-hours—enough to power 500,000 cars. However, scaling that up to the size of a county, let alone a state, is absolutely impossible at this point. A renewable energy factory of that size could power the entire U.S. for about two seconds.
It’s abundantly clear that this technology is not ready to replace fossil fuels and nuclear power just yet. Some legislators, however, are willing to set logistics aside to come off as “greener.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been adamantly pushing a wind turbine and solar-paneled future. His “sustainable” upgrade to the New York power grid is shutting down nuclear reactors and denying gas power to local citizens. It’s already caused major blackouts around the city, with more likely to come.
California Governor Gavin Newsom—along with his Democratic legislators—seems to think that this is a good example. Senate Bill 100 seeks a 100 percent renewable future by 2045—a bold hope, to say the least. Given the current state of renewable energy and storage capacities, power cuts will leave thousands without a reliable energy grid to lean on. California might soon suffer the same fate as New York has: condemned to blackouts, unreliable power, and a lack of faith in renewable energy.
When the laws of physics defy your legislation, one ought to reconsider. Renewable energy, by all means, should be gradually incorporated into private and public use as a secondary option to offset conventional power methods. Until renewable energy can be just as reliable as the fossil fuels and nuclear power we rely on today, our legislators shouldn’t even think about passing bills to replace conventional energy altogether.
