There are lots of people that not only believe in, but desire to have renewable energy, to be the foundation of our energy needs in America. In truth, that belief, and that desire, is certainly not wrong; and it also seems to represent well, common sense – but the fact of the matter is, that any energy source that is dependent upon the right weather conditions, whether that be the sun, wind, or rain, is going to represent an energy source that is problematic for all those that live within a construct in which their energy needs are constant as well as when such also represents the backbone of the things that they need to attend to every day. So then, we need to keep in mind that solar power is dependent upon the sun, of which, even on the best of days, the sun does not shine in the same area for 24 hours in a day; as for the wind, the wind does not always blow every hour of every day; and finally for hydropower, it subsists upon a constant supply of water coming from snow melting, or from rain, and cannot well sustain itself in droughts as well as it will find itself subject to being overwhelmed by extreme storms. Additionally, when it comes to renewable energy, excess energy so produced on a given day, must either be stored through batteries or similar, or else that energy will essentially go unused and will soon thus dissipate.
Basically, any renewable energy source, that is dependent upon the right weather, is going to, in the scheme of things, not only be not acceptable for any society that needs a continuous source of energy, but it also will not ever be, on its own, a dependable energy source. This signifies, that while it certainly makes sense to want to take advantage of renewable energy sources that are available to us, such as the sun and wind, that we still also have to be realistic in the recognition that to make our energy sources totally dependent upon that which is not wholly dependable is fundamentally a major flaw. Rather, it would behoove us to see renewable energy as something that will serve to provide us with a portion of our energy needs but until such renewable energy becomes fully or nearly fully dependable, it cannot ever be our only source of energy.
It’s good to see humankind, driven to find alternative sources for our energy needs, of which, the overriding motive is to lessen our dependence upon that which is perceived as being damaging to the environment, as well as to the climate, and is considered to be non-sustainable over the long run. Still, what has been put on the agenda as being sold as the proper alternative to fossil fuels and the like, are not currently good enough, to perform their functions at the level that modern society demands and needs, signifying that a mad rush to replace that which is reliable with something that is not, is clearly misguided, and therefore needs to be adjusted to reflect and to take into fair account, this inconvenient but salient fact.