Can renewable energy surpass fossil fuels when faced with extreme weather?

During brutal Winter Storm Grayson, a friend jokingly sent me the meme “Trump has been in office 1 year and has already fixed global warming.” As always, it started our banter on climate change. But I started wondering how renewable energy sources could handle the system strain caused by lengthy winter storms.

Tina Casey of CleanTechnica recently outlined how renewable sources may have the upper hand in terms of price volatility, as well as supply chain and baseload vulnerabilities.

The picture will come into sharper focus when the dust clears from the Arctic blast and the damage to energy infrastructure is toted up, but for now this extreme weather episode says more about the vulnerabilities of conventional power than the shortcomings of renewable energy.

Meanwhile, Secretary Perry just fast-tracked a major new hydropower transmission project for New England, the region is just beginning to tap into its considerable offshore wind resources, and new storage technology is propelling growth in onshore wind and solar. – Tina Casey of CleanTechnica

Because of the predominance of fossil fuel in New England, this storm wasn’t a final proving ground for renewable energy. However, the 21st-century grid takes advantage of distributed wind and solar energy resources. A decentralized model, combined with renewable energy price stability, make a strong case for the resiliency of renewable energy during extreme weather. Continued US expansion of wind and solar power will support existing energy resources and provide a platform for better understanding of renewable’s reliability.

Photo by Ali Inay on Unsplash

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