Energy supply stability dominates political and public discourse these days. Although there is broad consensus that we have to complete the transformation to a carbon-free energy supply within the next few decades, there is still some debate about how to get there. Solar and wind are thought too erratic to serve as a foundation for 100% supply security. And because electrochemical power storage systems are far too expensive and will never be powerful enough, anyway, many still dream of a future built on hydrogen or a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. But these scenarios are not without their insurmountable hurdles, according to Martin Schachinger and Volkmar Tetzlaff.
