A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030

Key Concepts

* Supplies of wind and solar energy on accessible land dwarf the energy consumed by people around the globe.
* The authors’ plan calls for 3.8 million large wind turbines, 90,000 solar plants, and numerous geothermal, tidal and rooftop photovoltaic installations worldwide.
* The cost of generating and transmitting power would be less than the projected cost per kilowatt-hour for fossil-fuel and nuclear power.
* Shortages of a few specialty materials, along with lack of political will, loom as the greatest obstacles.
In December leaders from around the world will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree on cutting back greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come. The most effective step to implement that goal would be a massive shift away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources. If leaders can have confidence that such a transformation is possible, they might commit to an historic agreement. We think they can.