Imagine now your favorite renewable energy scheme.

[hunter]

Now imagine the natural gas powered schemes required to support that.

[Aussie105]

1. It's not renewable

if it relies on natural gas to provide the energy input at any point.

Solar panel manufacturing using solely energy from solar panels, perhaps?

[Stuart G]

3. Solar Energy is the answer to this question

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. I average dumping 500K watts/month into the utility network from my solar panels.

If everyone invested in solar panels in the State of Maine, I suspect the majority incremental cost for the networks would be largescale battery back-up for evening/overcast weather.

[hunter]

4. That's a lot of batteries.

I'll leave the math to you.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. Sure is.

But how do you cost replacement generation? What's a new powerplant cost from construction thru fossil fuel costs? Decentralized energy seems to be the right direction to go with.

[Blues Heron]

5. Imagine 71 percent of your states electrical generation coming from renewable energy

You would be imagining the great state of Maine.

In 2021, 72% of Maine's total electricity net generation came from renewable energy, and hydroelectric power provided the largest share at 27%.
In 2021, Maine ranked fifth in the nation in the share of total in-state electricity generation provided by wind energy, and wind provided about 23% of Maine's in-state net generation.
Forests cover about nine-tenths of Maine, a larger share than in any other state, and wood and wood waste-derived fuels supply most of the biomass Maine uses for electricity generation. In 2021, biomass supplied one-fifth of Maine’s total net generation, the second-largest share, after Vermont, among the states.
In 2020, Maine’s natural gas use on a per capita basis was third-lowest in the nation, after Hawaii and Vermont, in large part because most of Maine lacks natural gas distribution systems.

https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=ME

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. Cool....happy to be part of the 71%

Labor intensive, decentralized solar power makes a lot of sense for the future in Maine. We can be a leader.

On edit: We have a lot of hydropower, too.

[cachukis]

8. The dilemma is building a renewable energy

source without a renewable energy source. The transition will either happen using present energy sources or not happen.

[Aussie105]

9. Exactly.

The benefit calculations need to include the non-renewable energy sources used to create the renewable energy hardware, like solar panels and wind turbines.

They all have a limited lifespan, and until the equation falls in favour of renewables to power that hardware replacement and recycling of scrap, it's a bit of a pipe dream.
But the future of the human race depends on it, so keep going!

Of course if I was a Science Fiction writer, I'd conjure up mini clean nuclear energy power sources, suitable for homes and vehicles.