There is not a scarcity of wind, light, or flowing water so why not use it more often?

SOURCE: The Electrochemical Society

The economic principle I'm exploring is institutions are the "rules of the game" that influence
choices.

First, according to the US Energy Information Administration, "renewable energy is energy from sources that are naturally replenishing but flow-limited. They are virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that is available per unit of time."

Sounds pretty good right? Then why aren't we taking advantage of these brand new energy sources? There are many reasons why and why not, for my third post I will focus especially on the availability of these renewable resources.

Wind: The potential of wind power is enormous more than 20 times greater than what the human population needs. The problem is harnessing all of that energy for redistribution to further improve our lives now and in the future. Obviously the wind is a constantly changing natural force, which makes it difficult to transfer all of that potential energy into batteries. We just simply cannot create enough electricity from wind power to power a city for example.

Solar: Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world. The great thing about solar is it can be produced and consumed as needed, by anyone, rich or poor, and anywhere, in remote areas and city centers. 

Hydro: It is very available, Hydro energy generates power in every region of the country and is America's largest source of clean, renewable electricity. Hydro power requires only the power of America's moving waters rivers, streams and ocean tides to generate electricity so it is very easy to obtain since we have a lot of place in the US that have access to fast moving waters.



Sources:

Wind Energy

Solar Energy

Hydro Energy