Exactly. We need something to generate baseload instead of coal and natural gas. Nuclear, geothermal, and hydro are our best options.
The other major issue to address with solar: the mining of materials, manufacturing and distribution of solar panels absolutely requires fossil fuels. There has never been a solar panel or wind turbine created without it - not even as a demonstration, let alone the decades it would take to build out the infrastructure. If solar "took over", it would only do last another 20-25 years without a viable supply chain.
Put another way: the sun and the wind are renewable, but solar panels and wind turbines are certainly not. And without a viable path to a carbon-free supply chain, we'd be on borrowed time. As such, it's more accurate to think of "renewables" as fossil fuel extenders, allowing us to burn carbon and spread the energy return out over a couple decades.
The other major issue to address with solar: the mining of materials, manufacturing and distribution of solar panels absolutely requires fossil fuels. There has never been a solar panel or wind turbine created without it - not even as a demonstration, let alone the decades it would take to build out the infrastructure. If solar "took over", it would only do last another 20-25 years without a viable supply chain.
Put another way: the sun and the wind are renewable, but solar panels and wind turbines are certainly not. And without a viable path to a carbon-free supply chain, we'd be on borrowed time. As such, it's more accurate to think of "renewables" as fossil fuel extenders, allowing us to burn carbon and spread the energy return out over a couple decades.