I only wonder, how they will make road asphalt or constructions of steel smelters out of renewable energy...
How they will refurbish crumbling city infrastructure base on renewable energy...
Steel smelters are heat driven chemical reactor. Heat from burning coal heats a container of iron oxide and carbon. The heat causes the carbon to react with the iron oxide forming carbon dioxide gas. The gas is allowed to escape leaving behind iron. Mix the iron with a little more carbon you get steel. An Electric arc furnace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_arc_furnace), instead of coal, can supply the needed heat.
A second way to drive a chemical reaction is to use electricity directly. If you put aluminum oxide ore between two electrodes, melt it, and then pump electricity through molten ore. The electricity breaks the chemical bond
between the aluminum and oxygen . The oxygen is allowed to escape leaving behind aluminum. Iron ore and can also be processed this way.
most oxide ores can be processed by either of the above two methods to remove the oxygen.
As to Asphalt, we can eventually switch to reinforced concrete. Yes the concrete freeways on the east US coast failed and were eventually replaced with asphalt. However engineers learned from their mistakes. The concrete section of I-5 through seattle is the original road and after about 50 years of use is still in good condition. Asphalt is cheep and plentiful but it doesn't last like properly reinforced concrete.