In order for California to meet its ambitious climate goals of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from power generation ... the state is going to need one key piece of technology to work out. 

That would be battery storage ... and so far building out battery capacity isn't going according to plan.  

Governor Gavin Newsom says the state is making progress, but it will be far short of meeting its goals in building out battery storage farms.  

Alan Scheller-Wolf studies and teaches about sustainable energy systems at Carnegie Mellon University. 

He tells KNX News why batteries are necessary to help make renewable energies like wind and solar viable.

Wolf says building batteries is a messy business.

Wolf says there are also unanswered questions about what to do with batteries ... made up of highly toxic components ... when they reach the end of their service life.

So he says it's not surprising the state isn't where it wants to be on battery storage ... but there are few realistic alternatives.