A new state law signed this month, SB 100, requires all of California’s electricity to come from zero-carbon sources by 2045. Many news reports advertised the law as a mandate for renewable energy, but lawmakers in Sacramento quietly acknowledged that the state may need more than wind turbines, solar panels and hydroelectric dams to meet its climate goals. The new law allows up to 40% of the state’s electricity to come from other zero-carbon sources, including nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants, as long as they capture their carbon emissions.
Wind and solar are “intermittent renewables” — the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. There is a limit to hydroelectric power as well — new dams face significant opposition. Recent modeling by a team of MIT researchers drives these limits home. They found that electricity systems powered entirely by wind, water and solar energy would cost substantially more than systems that have “firm low-carbon resources,” such as nuclear and carbon capture. This would hold true even if, as expected, renewable energy technologies become much cheaper over time, and even if California were to join a much larger regional or national renewable energy grid.
Ted Nordhaus and Jameson Mcbride – LA Times – September 24, 2018.
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