On May 31, the day before President Trump announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the California Senate passed a bill mandating 100% of all electrical generation be from so-called “renewable” sources that emit no carbon dioxide by 2045. As the vote was strictly along party lines, this means that the General Assembly will also likely pass it and send it to Governor Brown for signature.
California isn’t alone. The “100% renewables” movement has been sweeping across American colleges, and similarly “progressive” towns and some states, such as Hawaii and Vermont. This movement has resulted in state laws, local ordinances and policies at both levels that require 100% of a city or state’s electricity to come from renewable power sources such as wind and solar.
The first and most basic problem with the 100% renewables goal is that if by “renewable” one means sources of electric power that neither generate CO2 emissions or emissions of conventional pollutants such as particulates and sulfur dioxide, then such a goal is impossible. The sun is beneath the horizon half of the time, and near it for another two hours or so, dramatically reducing incident radiation on passive solar panels. Wind is highly variable. Thus, wind and/or solar can supply 100% of electricity demand only if it can be stored for later use.
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