Elon Musk sells electric cars. Even he realizes we need oil. Gasoline and Diesel vehicles, trucks, trains, airlines are not going away by 2035. He said it would take at least 50 years to totally convert to an all electric society that is renewable. Trains diesel locomotives last at least 50 years. Then you have to make drugs and medicines, synthetic materials, plastics, that all require oil based or coal based products.
Also, the electric grid has to be upgraded to take on the power needed to recharge electric vehicles. More power will be needed. This means solar and wind alone can't do it, it will have to be nuclear if they want 24/7 power. Musk said a 100 mile by 100 mile array of solar panels in the Nevada desert could power the whole country. However, you have to have the grid to push it. Newer carbon composite wires to replace the power grid wires can push twice the amount of power over them, but they cost more than steel and aluminum. This would take time to replace the power grid, like the 50 years he mentioned.
Governments forcing this transition in Europe has almost doubled the cost of electricity for the consumers. Too much change too fast and it will styfle the economy. Europe's economy is stagnant and not growing. China and India's economies are growing fast, but they still use coal, oil, and nuclear power as well as a lot of hydro. Yes, they are trying to use solar and wind, but not at the expense of their growing economies. India is growing faster than China and may pass China by 2050. They do have capitalism and a multi-party political system and more freedoms.
We have oil, gas, and an 800 year supply of coal. Nothing is mentioned anymore about growing more trees and crops that absorb more carbon dioxide.
We can also grow our food in commercial greenhouses that can take up less land than farming, and give as much as 4 crop yields a year vs 1 per year farming. Then a lot of farmland could convert back to forests or grazing land for cattle. There are a lot more ideas out there than just forcing electric cars on people. People in big cities can't see the countryside like people who don't live in cities. Heck, the government pays farmers not to grow stuff to keep farm prices up. They could instead use this money to subsidize building greenhouses to grow food, and to plant trees. We could even grow tropical foods in greenhouses instead of importing them.
Another thing that urks me. A local power company bought some farmland and put in several hundred acres of solar panels. A nearby town could have had these panels put on top of commercial buildings and schools, over parking lots, etc, and did the same thing and left the farmland alone. Living in the south solar panels covering parking lots could provide a lot of shade and weather cover for shoppers at malls, strip malls, and grocery stores. Why isn't this being tried in more places?
I still think smaller modular nukes would be better. New smaller ones can't melt down and last for at least 20 years without refueling. They can be clustered for more power out put. This could easily replace coal fired plants. Why isn't it being done? The grid needs upgrading and newer nuke power plants built before electric cars take over and also AI is going to need 20% more power to operate these giant computer systems. In the meantime electric cars can evolve to faster charging times, lower cost, and longer range.
