How Much Land Would it Take for California to Go 100% Renewable?

As the world’s fifth-largest economy, Californians need a lot of reliable energy to power our daily lives. Last year, Senate Bill 100 was signed into law committing the state’s utilities to the aspirational goal of getting all of their electricity from renewable sources by 2045. But how can this be done? The Manahattan Institute, a policy research think tank, took a deep-dive look at the math behind the 100%-renewable-energy concept and found it unrealistic, particularly when it comes to land use. To expand renewables to the extent that they could approach the amount of energy needed to run the Golden State’s entire economy would require vast onshore and offshore territories with forests of wind turbines and sprawling solar projects.