Feasibility of Powering All Vehicles with Electricity from Solar and Wind Energy

Abstract

The effects of global climate change are beginning to exhibit notable impact across the world and within the next 20 years are predicted to worsen and have the potential to become irreversible. It is crucial that sustainable solutions are created and implemented before it is too late. A large part of the solution is the increased use of vehicles powered with renewably sourced electricity rather than fossil fuels. While this technology change is environmentally justified, its feasibility from a land use, economic, and grid integration standpoints must be assessed. This evaluation was performed by utilizing average characteristics of renewable energy technologies, analytic methods, and inferential analysis to determine if vehicles powered by electricity, created from solar panels and wind turbines, is currently feasible for both the United States (US) and the world. It is unfortunate that this proposed solution is only possible on a limited geographic basis since vast economic resources and infrastructure improvements are required to enable an integrated systems level approach of this nature. Overall, the outlook appears grim due to the impending global environmental and human health impacts; however, with a heightened sense of urgency, aggressive implementation program, and increased cooperation between parties with varied interests the effects of global climate change can be significantly reduced.