Reader Falsely Claims Renewable Energy Horribly Expensive
Regarding the cost of renewable energy, a reader notes:First mistake? Not calculating the ENTIRE life time cost of wind farms, solar farms and so on. It costs more, MUCH more to produce energy from so-called “renewable” sources, than it does from coal, or natural gas. If it wasn’t (sic) for the infusions of funds from government revenues, you would NEVER profit from this business. How about you guys quit sucking at the government trough, and learn to stand up on your OWN financial feet.
Well, the main issue here is that you are completely incorrect.
Let’s take wind as a great example. The PTC (production tax credit) is gone, perhaps never to return.
Meanwhile, there are many places and times in the U.S. when wind energy sells for less than $0.02 per kWh, which compares with coal ($0.32) and gas ($0.065).
Now let’s look at the EROI of wind (energy return on investment, the ratio of energy output divided by energy input over the lifetime of the equipment, including the production, installation, operation and decommissioning of the devices, as well as fuel). It’s 15 – 30, comparable to coal (18 to 43) and natural gas (~17).
Of course, this entire discussion ignores the cost of addressing diseases and long-term environmental damage associated with fossil fuels. Coal-fired power plants leave us with not only CO2 and methane (greenhouse gas emissions), but also mercury, selenium, cadmium, and arsenic, not to mention an array of cancer-causing radioactive isotopes. Someone, somewhere, at some point, is paying for all this.
Making matters worse for fossil fuels is the difficulty we have of putting a price on human life. Your Uncle Bob died of lung cancer. How much did that cost him and his loved ones?
