A rapid expansion of
renewable power would be complicated and costly. Using large amounts of renewable energy often requires modifying national power grids, and renewable energy is still generally more expensive than using fossil fuels. That is particularly true in the United States, where natural gas is plentiful and, therefore, a cheap way to generate electricity, while producing half the carbon dioxide emissions of other fossil fuels. Promoting wind and solar would mean higher electricity costs for consumers and industry.
But recently a team of
Stanford engineers published a proposal showing how
New York State — not windy like the Great Plains, nor sunny like Arizona — could easily produce the power it needs from wind, solar and water by 2030. In fact there was so much potential power, the researchers found, that renewable power could also fuel our cars.
