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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (11620)	12/27/2010 10:06:34 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24213

Renewable and fossil electricity generation costs compared Posted by Rembrandt on December 27, 2010 - 2:02pm To reduce fossil fuel use in electricity generation, the implementation of renewable energy is supported via subsidies or market mechanisms in many countries. These are required because the costs of renewable electricity are substantially higher than fossil fuel based power generation. In this article, the difference in cost structure is made clear by looking at the 2009 industrial and household electricity price in comparison with short-term cost forecasts for 2015 for nuclear, fossil, and renewable electricity generation. Special attention is paid to the difference in interest rates of borrowed capital for energy projects. This has a large influence on nuclear and renewable energy costs as these require larger upfront capital investments. For example, nuclear electricity becomes cheaper than natural gas generation at low discount rates, but more expensive at high discount rates. In case of renewables at higher discount rates only onshore wind costs fall below household electricity prices in most countries, while in case of lower discount rates this is also the case for offshore wind and solar thermal electricity. theoildrum.com