The answer is almost no time is needed.
Canada. Four provinces produce almost all their power from clean sources: Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Newfound. Three of those are the most populous provinces. Three of the remaining provinces receive more sunlight and are windier than the rest of the country. Two of those three provinces are littered with holes that reach the warmest parts of the Earths Crust, meaning they are prime locations for geothermal power. The remaining three Provinces are on the coast and therefore get a lot of wind all year long. One of them gets the one of largest tides in the world so tidal power is a possibility.
Solar is the fastest type of energy to build, you just need a solar panel and a place to put it and then plug it in. Wind power, you need to build a tower first. Geothermal you need to dig a hole to the hot stuff, preferably to temperatures of 400°C and then you need to build a steam power plant. The temperature really only needs to be above 100°C but I have an idea that if it is hotter it is better. Nuclear power plants take a decade to build. Same with hydro, but most large projects have already been completed, because they are the easiest things to build, so most of them are already built.
Complaints:
The sun only shines during the day: most of the power used in a 24hour day is used when the sun is shining.
Cloud cover limits power production: rare is the day that clouds cover all parts of a province, spread out the solar power plants, put the excess in batteries and use when the sun is not shining.
The wind does not blow all the time: it blows most of the time at higher elevations, ie up a tower. The wind blows mostly at night, it blows mostly in winter too. So, when the sun is not shining, the wind is usually blowing.
Nuclear waste is a problem, but it is not as big a problem as the alternative. It does not produce mountains of waste like coal ash does. It is a problem, but we need to tackle this problem right now. In any case, we are not going to use nuclear for a huge chunk of power anyway.
Electricity from one source of fossil fuel has always been a problem; generation was dependent on the price of the fuel. Moving to multiple sources with battery backup is the best solution. We use most of our power when we are awake. Less power when we sleep. We need to build a system that produces a background level of electricity equal to the minimum power used during the day. The background energy requirements will be fueled with electricity from Hydro, Geothermal, and Nuclear. We can't change production amounts to these type of plants easily, energy lags greatly between surplus and deficit. Wind and Solar power can fill in the gaps, producing as much energy as it can when it can. The part of the system that makes it all work is a system of batteries. The batteries charge when there is excess energy and they provide power when there is a deficit. They can switch between the two states on a second by second basis, meaning little or no brown outs.
Moreover, if our provinces are linked, if the power requirements of the nation are linked, there will be greater resilience in the system. If we treat North America as one system, then the resilience of the system strengthens more so.
What is stopping this transition? People are not building green power technology. Collectively, we know how to do it, but fossil fuels are subsidized and therefore cheaper. Remove the subsidies, or better yet move them to green power technology and we will quickly be there.
Green cars. We have the technology, but governments are not interested in them. Electric cars are expensive, because gas powered car makers have a lot of pull and electric ones no pull. Stop it. Stop building Gas powered vehicles. The car companies know it will happen, they are preparing the way now, but we need to tell them that the end is now! Not in five years.
Realistically, transition will hurt some people a lot, but realistically not transitioning will hurt almost everyone a lot more soon.
If fourteen year old Greta Thunberg could see that two years ago as clear as day, why can't we?
Transitioning is not the problem. The problem is understanding that it is necessary now. Well, necessary ten years ago, but now is the best we can hope for.
Carbon Neutral by 2050 is a joke, we need to be Carbon Negative as soon as we can.
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