Letter: Renewables can provide for our energy needs and add many jobs

Jim Conca recently wrote a column arguing that wind and solar alone cannot meet the nation’s energy needs. He described a critique of 21 authors to a study by Mark Jacobson of Stanford that states that wind and solar power could be viable.

I have not read either the critique or the Jacobson study, and clearly Mr. Conca has done so. I have, however, been following the energy supply issue for many years, starting when Westinghouse hired me to support advanced reactor research here.

I strongly disagree with Mr. Conca’s arguments and currently believe that renewables can indeed provide for our energy needs and add many jobs while doing so. Are any show stoppers? That’s a natural approach to a complex problem. The amount of available wind and solar energy is certainly sufficient. That’s not a show stopper. The economic feasibility could be a problem. But recent trends here and elsewhere are showing that renewable energy is becoming more affordable by the day.

Certainly one of the biggest barriers to renewable energy is its intermittency and the associated problem of the energy grid. Again, improving battery technology and computer control systems are making this problem more tractable.

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Letter: Renewables can provide for our energy needs and add many jobs."