California:

Renewable Energy Can Power California (Nature World News)

Report Calls for 7,200 MWe of Geothermal Energy for the Golden State

A new Stanford University study proposes a plan that will have the state of California running entirely on renewable energy by 2050, creating a healthier environment, generating jobs and stabilizing energy prices.

The research team contends that it is both technically and economically possible to convert California's infrastructure to one powered by clean, renewable energy.

They outline their plan for a sustainable, inexpensive and reliable energy supply in the journal Energy.

According to the researchers’ calculations, one scenario suggests that all of California’s 2050 power demands could be met with a mix of sources, including:

• 25,000 onshore 5-megawatt wind turbines
• 1,200 100-megawatt concentrated solar plants
• 15 million 5-kilowatt residential rooftop photovoltaic systems
• 72 100-megawatt geothermal plants
• 5,000 0.75-megawatt wave devices
• 3,400 1-megawatt tidal turbines

"If implemented, this plan will eliminate air pollution mortality and global warming emissions from California, stabilize prices and create jobs -- there is little downside," lead author Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering, said in a statement.

The proposal will reportedly fulfill all of the state's transportation, electric power, industry, and heating and cooling energy needs with renewable energy by 2050.

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