Is Hillary Clinton's ambitious solar energy goal for the US workable? | Karl Mathiesen

Clinton's first climate change policy pitch - for renewables to provide 33% of the nation's electricity by 2027 - is bold, but the US must look beyond solar for a clean energy revolution

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton took a first swing at the many-headed carbon hydra. By the end of her first term, she said, the US would have seven times more solar energy capacity than it does today. And by 2027, renewable energy would supply a third of the nation's electricity.

Clinton's announcement, which the campaign said would be the first of many on climate change from the presidential hopeful, extends the carbon-saving ambition in a significant sector of the economy. Burning fossil fuels for electricity accounts for 31% of US greenhouse gas emissions. One estimate found Clinton's 33% renewable target could slice another 4% off the US's existing pledge to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025.