The transition to 100% clean, renewable energy

This chapter takes a critical look at the United States' journey toward a clean renewable energy (RE) future, highlighting the feasibility and challenges in establishing a sustainable energy landscape. The focus is on the currently major RE technologies, namely, hydro, wind, and solar, and on some emerging technologies (e.g., hydrogen, smart grid, enhanced transmission) that can complement the major ones in the aspirational goal of 100% RE. The path toward a full RE future goes through expanding current solar and wind penetration in the United States to about 70%, which is a goal that can be accomplished with current technology and transmission enhancements. Then, the development of hydrogen infrastructure can take the United States to the ultimate goal of 100% RE. Green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from clean, renewable electricity) can be a game-changing energy medium and storage solution, addressing the variability of solar and wind resources. The chapter underscores hydrogen's role in greening the transportation sector, and it discusses supporting technologies—grid-forming inverters, smart grid solutions, and advanced transmission infrastructure—which are vital components for seamlessly knitting renewable sources into the energy grid. It calls for substantial investments in parallel deployment and advancements in these areas.