California, the center of the growing use of renewable energy in the US has just broken a new record. It’s largest power grid, under the California Independent System Operator (CISO), now collects 67.2% of its energy from renewable sources- 80% of you include hydropower.
In addition to that, California isn’t stopping there. They also set a new record for wind power generation, producing 4,985 megawatts. Which leads experts to believe that California will continue to beat more renewable energy records in 2017.
Source: UCS USA
“It’s going to be a dynamic year for records,” says CISO spokesperson Steven Greenlee in an interview with SF Gate. “The solar records in particular are falling like dominoes.”
“The fact that the grid can handle 67 percent renewable power from multiple sources — it’s a great moment, and it shows the potential we have,” adds Sachu Constantine, director of policy of the Center for Sustainable Energy.
This isn’t even CISO’s first win. In March of 2017, it was able to meet 56% percent of its power demands with renewable energy. By doing so, it was able to break its previous record.
The renewable energy race seems to be getting even more progressive. Back in September 2016, a California power company had signed a contract with Tesla to make keep the state running on Powerpacks in case of a mass outage. BART, a public transportation system in San Francisco, has also been reducing its fossil fuel consumption. They hope to run purely on renewable energy by 2045.
California isn’t the only state that’s catching up on renewable energy tech. Atlanta will run 100% on renewables by 2035, and Chicago plans to power all city buildings with renewables by 2025. Las Vegas meanwhile is already 100% on renewable energy, while the state of Nevada itself aims to reach at least 80% using renewables by 2040. Massachusetts will also run on 100% renewable energy by 2035, and then Hawaii by 2045.
Source: Clean Technica
As for milestones that have already been reached, the state of New York has increased its use of solar power by 800%. Rhode Island’s Block Island has recently shut down a diesel plant and has completely replaced it with wind power. Soon, experts say that the craze will reach the eastern United States and will gather 13% of its energy from renewables by 2025. As well we’ve already reached a point of having 50% of the entire country being powered by wind power.
It is indeed possible to forever say goodbye to non-renewable fossil fuels and run the entire world on renewable energy.
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