--- title: "New Research: Texas Could Ditch Coal Entirely for Wind and Solar" description: "Fossil fuel may comprise a large part of the Texas economy, but new research shows that the state has the natural resources to ditch coal entirely.  " date: "2019-01-03" modified: "2019-01-03" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/texas-coal-wind-solar" categories: - "Energy" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" - "Solar Power" - "Wind" tags: - "coal" - "solar" - "texas" - "wind" --- # New Research: Texas Could Ditch Coal Entirely for Wind and Solar ![Fossil fuel may comprise a large part of the Texas economy, but new research shows that the state has the natural resources to ditch coal entirely.  ]() *\Image: Kit Conn/Victor Tangermann\* ## Wind and Solar Fossil fuel may comprise a large part of the Texas economy, but new research shows that the state has the natural resources to ditch coal entirely and still meet its electricity needs. "There is no where else in the world better positioned to operate without coal than Texas is," report co-author Dan Cohan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, [told the *Houston Chronicle*](). "Wind and solar are easily capable of picking up the slack." ## Texas Tea According to [the research](), recently published in the journal *Renewables: Wind, Water, and Solar*, Texas is in the fortuitous position of being able to replace the 25 percent of its electricity that it still sources from coal-burning plants without investing in expensive energy storage facilities. That's because the state's substantial renewable energy resources **—** wind and solar **—** operate on complementary schedules. Solar installations across the state only generate power during the day, and wind farms in West Texas provide large amounts of power at night. Wind turbines on the Gulf Coast, meanwhile, kick into high gear late on summer afternoons, when sea breezes blow inland. ## Future Vision The heartening report comes as [renewables overtook coal]() as Germany's primary energy source — an auspicious historical moment that seems to demonstrate that wind and solar can not only complement fossil fuels, but also evolve into an independent source of energy. "We’re poised on the edge of a much cleaner grid than we have today," Cohan told the *Chronicle*. "There’s an opportunity with coal coming offline to have wind and solar step up. It’s the cheapest way to do things, whether or not you care about the environment." **READ MORE:** [Texas Has Enough Sun and Wind to Quit Coal, Rice Researchers Say]() \[*The Houston Chronicle*\] ***More on Texas:*** [*Amazon’s Largest Wind Farm Will Be Able to Power 90,000 Homes in Texas*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()