[alancalverd]

And that's where it all falls apart. Every unreliable source you add to the grid, just reduces the economic viability of the reliable ones. Once you get above 10% unreliables, you have to start switching off major baseload generators when the sun shines, and above 20% unreliables, it becomes completely uneconomic and even dangerous (remember Chernobyl) to supply baseload from nuclear reactors, which are designed to run at over 90% capacity. So in "going green" you are forced to increase the number of fossil-fuelled power plants or to reduce electricity from a convenient or essential source to an opportunistic and very expensive luxury.

And don't forget that electricity is not the most important use of energy. We use vastly more fossil fuel for direct heating and motive power than for generating electricity.

I'm afraid the only solution to any "sustainability" or "quality of life" question is to reduce the number of humans. Fortunately this can be done at no cost and with no sacrifice or hardship, by simply making fewer babies. The problem is that nobody can make a profit by telling people that they can live better by doing nothing.