This 300 page book published September, 2016, by the National Academies Press (chartered by Congress) is the most up to date and credible analysis of the current status of technologies and policies supporting clean electric power technology.
It can be downloaded for free. The first 14 pages (as far as I got) summarize their recommendations to address barriers to greater incorporation of cleaner energy. There is no question that this must be started immediately.
One, market prices for electricity do not include “hidden” costs of pollution on human health, agriculture, and the environment. They call this a “market failure where government action is often justified” and call for a “price on pollution.” Greenhouse gases could also “be accounted for” in the market.(p. 4)
The second barrier is the size and scope of the climate change challenge. It “necessitates a significant switch to increasingly clean power sources.” Pricing “pollution,” however, will not be sufficient to address “cost and performance issues” of these increasingly clean power sources, such as “integrating them into the grid at high levels.”(p. 4)
More energy options and significant changes to the electricity grid and to “the roles of utilities, regulators, and third parties” will be necessary. (p. 4)
The authors are a “Committee on Determinants of Market Adoption of Advanced Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Technology” of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. There is diversity of public, military, and private entities, and disciplines. I look forward to public discussion of these recommendations.