I am now, have been and will be wrong

In talking with folks who understand the energy sector, it becomes clear to me that Alternative Energy soon becomes "Energy".

When pressed for a solution to the long term demand for power, some folks say coal, others nuclear.

In anycase, folks will argue that Alternative energy is not the solution, because Coal is cheaper, or Nuclear can prove power more reliably.

Until I press them, and say:
Can we build the plants fast enough?

their answer is always no.

No we can't break ground on enough nuclear plants to meet demand

no we can't break ground on enough coal plants to meet demand.

It's not just will, it's regulatory, it is materials, plans, etc.

All that can't come in time.

and it can't be done sequentially.

So while folks are out there building coal plants, and trying to get nuclear plants.

We will see Solar and Wind and hydro out there, taking up the slack, and filling in where fossil fuel systems can not.

It's not ideal, and in the long term race, most of these plants will become obsolete. But in the interrum, it will be a scenario where many/any source of power is power.

End users don't care what generated the watts, they just want the power to be cheap and available.

Alternate energy is part of the solution, with or without incentives or carbon-tax. It's power when people need electricity.