Renewable energy will have its time, when it is ready -- and that time is coming. By 'ready', I mean 'when it is cost competitive with other technologies'. I recently read that one Chinese solar manufacturer has achieved < $0.50/watt cost for PV module production, and it hasn't bottomed out yet. At the current rate of declining equipment prices, it doesn't matter how cheap oil is, eventually solar will be cheaper ... and when that happens, we will be living in a solar-first world faster than anyone can imagine.
The next question is how to deal with troughs in production due to the weather, and for that I really do hope we get back in the business of reactor innovation, because nuclear is the only option that provides the reliability of fuel-based power with 0 carbon output.
The next question is how to deal with troughs in production due to the weather, and for that I really do hope we get back in the business of reactor innovation, because nuclear is the only option that provides the reliability of fuel-based power with 0 carbon output.