Well, yes, NIMBYism is a thing. But most oil and gas operations, while they take up less space, are more than toxic and smelly enough to make up the difference

Well, yes, NIMBYism is a thing. But most oil and gas operations, while they take up less space, are more than toxic and smelly enough to make up the difference- and pipelines are regularly routed through public lands, skirting highly populated zones, in the face of massive public opposition. The reason those get built where renewables don't is simply that the oil industry is massive and knows how to work the necessary politics. The renewable industry will need cultivate its clout, and learn to work the system just like the oil players have- and then, NIMBYism and lack of space will just mysteriously cease to be problems.