I guess in California it's easy to say "we can use solar". But I look outside my window here in London and it's overcast and hazy. I don't recall it was windy either when I went out for a sandwich.
Well I guess that pretty much settles it then. It's not windy or sunny today in London so renewable energy is surely a pipe dream.
Thermomax evacuated tubes (developed in England) can get your bathwater and washing-input water nice and toasty, saving tons of carbon. They can even do this in the middle of an English winter. The trick is to use this as a water pre-heat. This way, you have complete control and reliability of your hot water, but you get the benefits of the sun's free energy input.
IIRC one of the options presented in “Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air” paper (http://www.withouthotair.com/) was setting up an array of solar panels in North Africa and selling the generated power to Britain.
Which is all well and good until you calculate the immense power loss by transmitting that electricity thousands of miles.