Solar

I've always thought that solar electricity generation is where the future should be. Given the size of our country, and the amount of surface area on buildings it should be a no-brainer. This energy expert agrees with me having done the math on such an undertaking:

My calculator indicates that 6.1 million acres is an area of 9,531 square miles, which is equivalent to a square of just under 100 miles by 100 miles (which would be 10,000 square miles). That's a large area, to be sure. But the possibility is there. A lot of "land" is available right now of rooftops.

His above conclusion is based on replacing all current electric generation with solar, which does not include any current cleaner technologies like hydroelectric, thermal, or wind. He concludes with this:

What is the limiting factor? Are there particular components that are critical, but not available in large enough quantities to make this work? Possibly, but I don't know what those might be. I actually believe that this could be our Manhattan Project, and it could be done. But it doesn't even have to offset all of our current electrical capacity. We just need to start chipping away, and substituting solar in place of fossil fuels and new capacity that is needed.

Can we afford it? The key question to me is, "Can we afford not to?"

Couldn't agree more.