One of humankind’s most enduring weaknesses is to assume that the way things are presently will somehow persist into the future, and that current trends are inexorable. This thinking is behind the often repeated view that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar cannot replace thermal electricity generation such as coal and natural gas. Presently, it is correct that the most significant weakness of these renewables is that they are intermittent, meaning they don’t generate close to their installed capacity and cause instability in electricity grids. While storage through batteries or pumped hydro is often ... (full story)