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Originally Posted by heep223
This is the biggest hurdle with utility scale renewable programs. It's just not efficient when you look at peak and trough electricity usage - because a) you can't control it and because b) you can't store it efficiently. Solar and wind aren't competitive with gas, and they never will be until someone can solve the issue of economically storing electricity in large quantities. In which case this is all a moot point because from there we'll probably figure out how to harness and store electricity from storm systems which could easily power the entire globe 24/7.
People can point to Europe's renewable programs all they want as an example of successful development. Europe is broke and they've developed the industry with tax payer dollars and debt, which is basically a cheat code IMO and not the road to follow to mature our renewable industry.
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I think the only current renewable that could viably replace fossil fuels for electricity generation is nuclear. I have a tough time believing that wind and solar can come close to meeting our current needs, much less our ever expanding future needs. There are many interesting TED talks on the subject of nuclear power.