How Natural Gas is Enabling the Renewable Energy Boom
- Solar and wind energy, while rapidly growing, are intermittent and require backup power sources to maintain grid reliability.
- Natural gas is currently the most viable option for providing this backup due to its flexibility and affordability.
- The transition to a fully decarbonized grid will require significant advancements in energy storage technologies or alternative baseload power sources.
Solar and wind are rolling out rapidly in the U.S. They account for about 19 percent of energy generation today, and could reach more than 40% by 2030. This clean energy will rapidly replace coal, and many expect it will simply replace natural gas as well. But that’s a mistake: In fact, solar and wind will depend on gas for decades to come.
Today, solar and wind are relatively low cost, and prices will likely fall further. But they are not like fossil fuels—they are what’s known as variable renewable energy (VRE)—meaning they only produce electricity when the sun shines or the wind blows.