Renewables like solar and wind are plunging in price. But there are impediments to powering a grid entirely, or even primarily, with renewable energy. How far can they go? A new paper suggests that wind and solar could power 60% of the US’s electricity needs, given a national grid, without any energy storage, and without massive overbuild. Another 20% of the grid’s electricity would come from CO2-free hydro and nuclear.

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