The problem is the definition of what renewable energy is and how much energy which we need. There is more than enough potential to replace fossil fuel energy. There has been for a very long time. Just wind and solar could replace most all of the energy in the United States.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/jan ... 12611.htmlThe resources for renewables are:
1) Wind-- On shore, off-shore, high altitude
2) Solar
3) Biogas-- from manure
4) Biodiesel
5) Hydroelectric-- run of the river and small scale hydroelectric (mitigate most of the large dam problems)
6) Geothermal
7) Ocean Thermal
Wave Energy
There is a lot more available than wind and solar energy. The new power plants can run both liquid fuels and electricity. Hybrid power plants can take in and distribute energy from any energy source.
https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/hybrid You could easily have biogas or biodiesel, distributed hydroelectric (micro hydro or run of the river) , solar, and wind running through a single power plant. This kind of arrangement would have more energy density than the current systems. It would be possible to attach this to a microgrid for a single community sell off the excess energy and have a more flexible, efficient system. You can also add in a solar heat pump, energy efficiency in housing, etc.
There are both net zero and energy plus houses and buildings. This is a matter of scaling up the technology. You could have a building that gave away its energy to startups inside the building if it was an energy plus building as part of a scheme to encourage innovation.
Thinking in terms of large fixed resources is not how microgrids and smart grids work. The more variety the better.
There is a second issue that is problematic with the story about power. Renewables can run both large scale power plants (multi-mega watt plants), and microgrids. There is flexibility in the grid allowing for better energy distribution and markets. You can create areas where communities can produce the same amount of energy they consume, then sell off the energy at peak periods when there is excess energy.
https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-microgrids-workThere is a potentially much more flexible efficient system with less energy loss. Ultimately renewables will outproduce the current fossil fuel grid, be more flexible and cleaner.
There are places where people produce more energy than they need and have asked permission to put back energy into the system and are refused. If people want to produce excess renewables on their property and feed it into the grid as an investment, it should be allowed.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... government