A giant one square mile of solar panels in space can generate the capacity of a nuclear power plant. It can be beamed to earth using lasers or focused microwaves to where ever the power is needed. However, no bird or plane can fly in the beam without getting zapped. A study was done and the solar panels could be built in space for the same price as a nuclear power plant. This was before SpaceX's reusable rocket and lower costs.
Seems like nuclear power would be cheaper and actually safer in the long run using thorium instead of uranium or plutonium. The half life of thorium is only a couple hundred years instead of a couple of thousand for uranium and plutonium. Nuclear can run 24/7, and only shut down during spring or fall for maintenance or refueling when demand is lower.
Solar, wind, or nukes only solve about 20% of the fossil fuel problem. Another 20% is vehicle transportation. However, cities produce 40% of the CO2. This is from building to fuel use. It takes a lot of steel and concrete to build a city. Steel requires smelting with coal to produce. So does copper, zinc, lead, tin, aluminum and glass, and even making bricks.
