Contrary to what your doomscroll-prone social media algorithms may be feeding you, there was a heartening glimmer of good climate news earlier this year. California's electric grid reached almost 95% renewable energy: a record. The April 24 achievement came with a few asterisks—it lasted only a few seconds, and it didn't cover the whole state. Still, it was a glimpse of this 100% clean energy future that we keep hearing about, one that sometimes feels more like shaky pledges than an imminent reality.
Happily, California's renewable energy milestone is not that unique. Germany set a similar record a few years ago, maintaining a clean energy peak for several hours. China's Qinghai province powered itself entirely on renewables for a week in 2017. South Australia has proven it can generate more than enough solar power to meet residents’ demands on a regular basis. Costa Rica has been running on nearly all clean electricity for years now, and so has the city of Burlington, Vermont. It's gotten to be kind of a thing.
But why can't California and other places do this all day, every day?
When you read about a place running on 100% clean energy, typically this refers to electricity. Which makes sense: If you want to make a big dent in planet-warming emissions, after all, the power sector is a good place to start. Forty percent of the world's greenhouse gases come from burning coal, gas, and oil to keep the lights on, essentially.
So when California approached 95% percent renewable power last spring, it's not as if its grid suddenly transformed from a pumpkin (with all due respect to lovers of pumpkin spice everything) to a green stagecoach, vanquishing fossil fuels along the way.
Read how these places are getting to 100% renewables and how we can get more of those days here.
