NEW ENERGY IS CHEAPEST ENERGY

Report Examines Hidden Health And Environmental Costs Of Energy Production And Consumption In U.S.
Sara Freuh and Alison Burnette, October 19, 2009 (Office of News and Public Information/National Academy of Science)

"A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them…an estimated $120 billion in the U.S. in 2005, a number that reflects primarily health damages from air pollution associated with electricity generation and motor vehicle transportation…[and not including] damages from climate change, harm to ecosystems, effects of some air pollutants such as mercury, and risks to national security…

"Requested by Congress, [Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use] assesses what economists call external effects caused by various energy sources over their entire life cycle -- for example, not only the pollution generated when gasoline is used to run a car but also the pollution created by extracting and refining oil and transporting fuel to gas stations. Because these effects are not reflected in energy prices, government, businesses and consumers may not realize the full impact of their choices. When such market failures occur, a case can be made for government interventions…"

From the European Tribune (click to enlarge)

"The committee that wrote the report…estimated both what the damages were in 2005 (the latest year for which data were available) and what they are likely to be in 2030…[and] separately derived a range of values for damages from climate change…[A]ll model results available to the committee indicate that climate-related damages caused by each ton of CO2 emissions will be [50-to-80%] worse in 2030 than now…

"DAMAGES FROM ELECTRICITY GENERATION…Coal nonclimate damages average about 3.2 cents for every kilowatt-hour (kwh) of energy produced. A relatively small number of plants -- 10 percent of the total number -- accounted for 43 percent of the damages. By 2030, nonclimate damages are estimated to fall to 1.7 cents per kwh…Climate-related monetary damages range from 0.1 cents to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour…Burning natural gas generated far less damage than coal…an average of 0.16 cents per kwh…By 2030, nonclimate damages are estimated to fall to 0.11 cents per kwh. Estimated climate damages from natural gas were half that of coal, ranging from 0.05 cents to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour."

From the European Tribune (click to enlarge)

"The life-cycle damages of wind power, which produces just over 1 percent of U.S. electricity but has large growth potential, are small compared with those from coal and natural gas. So are the damages associated with normal operation of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors, which provide almost 20 percent of the country’s electricity. But the life cycle of nuclear power does pose some risks…The potential risks from a proposed long-term facility for storing high-level radioactive waste need further evaluation before they can be quantified. Life-cycle CO2 emissions from nuclear, wind, biomass, and solar power appear to be negligible when compared with fossil fuels.

"DAMAGES FROM HEATING…Most of this heat energy comes from natural gas or, to a lesser extent, the use of electricity…The median damages in residential and commercial buildings were about 11 cents per thousand cubic feet…Damages from heat in 2030 are likely to be about the same…DAMAGES FROM MOTOR VEHICLES AND FUELS…Damages per vehicle mile traveled were remarkably similar among various combinations of fuels and technologies -- the range was 1.2 cents to about 1.7 cents per mile traveled…Nonclimate-related damages for corn grain ethanol were similar to or slightly worse than gasoline…ethanol made from herbaceous plants or corn stover -- which are not yet commercially available -- had lower damages…Electric vehicles and grid-dependent (plug-in) hybrid vehicles showed somewhat higher nonclimate damages…[because] producing the electricity to power them currently relies heavily on fossil fuels…Achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 will likely also require breakthrough technologies…Both for 2005 and 2030, vehicles using gasoline made from oil extracted from tar sands and those using diesel derived from the Fischer-Tropsch process -- which converts coal, methane, or biomass to liquid fuel -- had the highest life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions…"