The penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) resources (wind and solar Photovoltaic (PV)) is increasing rapidly across the world and in many regions by capacity is the dominant new generation that is connecting to the grid. This is part of an accelerating trend that dates back several decades. With this rapid increase in VRE there has been a trend in the popular press and in parts of the academic literature to claim that 100% renewables is not only a desirable end point but is relatively easily achievable – there is also a totally counter narrative that says you cannot possibly have a grid with very high penetrations of VRE and certainly not 100%. Neither of these narratives are useful or constructive. It is certainly technically possible to get to 100% VRE grids but is far from easy and certainly with our current technology and societal expectations around electricity it would be very expensive. A more balanced and correct statement would be “it is possible to get to 100% VRE grids but there are many challenges that need to be solved” and this is the subtext for this special section on the development of a 100% Renewable Energy System”.

中文翻译：

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社论：迈向 100% 可再生能源系统

可变可再生能源 (VRE) 资源（风能和太阳能光伏 (PV)）在世界范围内的渗透率正在迅速增加，在许多地区，按容量计算是连接到电网的占主导地位的新一代。这是可以追溯到几十年前的加速趋势的一部分。随着 VRE 的快速增长，大众媒体和部分学术文献中出现了一种趋势，声称 100% 可再生能源不仅是一个理想的终点，而且相对容易实现——还有一种完全相反的说法：你不可能有一个 VRE 渗透率非常高的网格，当然也不是 100%。这些叙述都不是有用的或建设性的。实现 100% VRE 电网在技术上当然是可能的，但远非易事，而且根据我们目前的技术和社会对电力的期望，这肯定会非常昂贵。一个更平衡和正确的说法是“有可能达到 100% VRE 电网，但有许多挑战需要解决”，这是这个关于开发 100% 可再生能源系统的特别部分的潜台词” .