To the Editor:
On April 18, Germany broke world records by producing more electrical energy using solar and wind than by fossil fuels. This is a great follow-up to the April 15 record of producing 22.68 gigawatts of electrical power by solar alone! For the layman, 22.68 GW is more electricity than produced by 25 large nuclear reactors.
Some people say "yes, but you can't store it for nighttime." This is completely erroneous; pumped water storage has been used throughout the world for more than 30 years and is more than 85 percent efficient. During the day, you use the solar produced electricity to pump water up a hill and into a reservoir and then at night the water flows down through turbines to make electricity.
Germany is a northern country. In fact, if you look at a map you'll discover that Southern Germany is farther north than the northern tip of Maine! Can you imagine the results that the United States would get if we put our full effort into producing solar energy? We have to stop listening to media sources in the pocket of Big Oil, Big Coal and other fossil fuel interests, dismiss their naysaying, and get on with the business of saving our environment, saving money in the long run and creating 21st-century jobs.