October 2017 Discover

It’s a no-brainer to harness renewable energy sources like solar

and wind. But a recent study in PNAS suggested that wind (and

other renewables) will fall short of slashing carbon emissions,

because there just isn’t enough of it in the U.S. Based on data

from a company owned by one of the study’s authors, this

map’s white areas show where wind turbines would be most

effective — but because wind isn’t available all the time, they’d

only produce roughly 50 percent of the energy wind turbines

could at maximum capacity. Cooler colors indicate spots where

turbines would have little impact. The team’s suggestion? Focus

on investing in backup sources, like nuclear and bioenergy, to

pick up the slack that renewables can’t cover.

Requesting Backup

TOP: VIBRANT CLEAN ENERGY, LLC. BOTTOM: BRETT SEYMOUR/EUA/WHOI/ARGO

0% 12.5% 25% 37.5% 50%

Average Hourly

Capacity Factor

October 2017^ DISCOVER^15

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Source: NOAA’s High Resolution

Rapid Refresh data

els like you are

``

shaking hands

``

with these people

byrecovering their

personal possessions.

``

— Swedish underwater archaeologist Brendan

``

on retrieving artifacts from ancient sunken sh

``

Foley explores an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Greece.