Two energy sources: an offshore oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico (left) and a wind and solar farm in Palm Springs, California

Gerald Herbert/Pool/Reuters (oil drilling rig); GIPhotoStock/Getty Images (wind and solar farm)

Can Renewable Energy Replace Fossil Fuels?

Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas powered America’s industrial rise and helped make the U.S. a global power. But emissions from burning these fuels have played a large role in causing the climate change that threatens the planet, scientists say. A lot of attention has recently focused on renewable energy—energy produced from nonpolluting renewable sources such as wind, sun, and running water. During one month last spring, renewable energy, for the first time ever, supplied more of America’s electricity than coal did. But can renewables completely replace fossil fuels? A researcher at an environmental organization and a spokeswoman for an oil and gas industry group square off.

December 9, 2019

When President Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the roof of the White House 40 years ago, renewable energy technologies were both expensive and niche.

Times have changed. The market has turned against fossil fuels, and with a helpful prod from consumers and lawmakers, fossil fuels can be replaced entirely by renewable energy.

Consider the economics: The cost of installing new wind turbines has fallen by two-thirds from a decade ago, and the price of solar panels by a whopping 88 percent. Nearly two-thirds of the new power capacity installed this year is expected to be solar and wind. Recent analysis by Rocky Mountain Institute, a group that promotes the use of low-carbon energy sources, shows renewable energy will be less expensive than gas power plants within a decade. It makes sense: The “fuel” powering wind turbines and solar panels is free, after all.

The signs of change are everywhere. In states like Colorado, Ohio, Minnesota, and Indiana, utilities are shutting down their coal plants and switching to renewable energy—not because it’s cleaner, but because it’s cheaper. In fact, coal has become so uncompetitive that plant owners have asked the government for a bailout.

Many utilities are closing coal-fired plants and switching to renewables.

Of course, there will be days or times of the day when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine. But, just as our phones have gotten smarter, so has our electric grid. We can pull electricity supplies from different areas as needed, or use our home hot-water heaters to store power when it’s plentiful and draw it down when it’s scarce. As the share of renewable energy increases, our grid will become smarter and more adaptable.

The shift to renewable energy is well under way. But policies that force oil, gas, and coal companies to pay a fair price for the damage they cause to human health and the environment would speed the retirement of these fossil fuels. The good news is that with each day, we get more evidence it’s possible.

—NATHANAEL GREENE

Natural Resources Defense Council

Fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil supplied 80 percent of America’s energy needs in 2018. They fuel our power plants; they heat our homes; they charge our phones and keep our lights on.

Renewable energies, on the other hand, make up just 11 percent of our nation’s energy supply. Those percentages aren’t likely to change substantially in the next few decades: According to projections by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, fossil fuels will supply more than 78 percent of energy needs through 2040. It’s simply not realistic at this time for renewable energies to replace the critical role that fossil fuels now play.

Nor do they need to. The U.S. has already made enormous strides toward reducing our carbon emissions—more than any other nation since 2000, according to a recent report by BP, a British-based petroleum company. We’ve done that primarily by switching more and more power plants from coal to natural gas, which burns more cleanly and produces far fewer emissions. Technological advances have made natural gas more abundant and more affordable—and that has helped drive carbon emissions to their lowest levels in a generation.

Fossil fuels will still supply 78 percent of America’s energy needs in 2040.

And it’s not just in the U.S. where switching to natural gas can make a difference. China is the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases and one of the world’s worst polluters. But because of ongoing switches from coal to natural gas, Beijing’s winter air quality has improved by 78 percent.

Renewable energies like wind and solar are an important part of our nation’s energy mix, but they can run into trouble when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. Having natural gas as a backup energy source is a more reliable solution.

The risks of climate change are real. But the best solutions to this critical challenge are ones that are realistic. And the technology just isn’t there yet to make renewables our primary source of electricity, much less our only source.

—MEGAN BARNETT BLOOMGREN

American Petroleum Institute