NEW AND CLEARER NEW ENERGY COST DATA SOURCE

New Database Makes Costs of Energy Technologies More Transparent

July 16, 2012 (EERE News via U.S. Department of Energy)

“As part of the Energy Department's Open Energy Information platform (Open EI) and its continued commitment to open and transparent energy data, the Department released… a new public database featuring cost and performance estimates for electric generation, advanced vehicle, and renewable fuel technologies…

“…TheTransparent Cost Database (TCDB) provides technology cost estimates for companies, utilities, policy makers, consumers, and academics, and can be used to benchmark company costs, model energy scenarios, and inform research and development decisions…[with] estimates for what energy technologies, such as a utility-scale wind farm, rooftop solar installation, biofuel production plant, or an electric vehicle, might cost today or in the future.”

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“By providing an initial estimate of current and projected costs and performance characteristics for vehicles, biofuels, and renewable electricity generation, the new database will help companies and investors make informed decisions supporting the commercialization and deployment…The TCDB provides access to published historical and projected cost targets and performance estimates developed by DOE, in a place that is easy to find and update. The cost data are sourced from published studies and DOE program-planning or budget documents that, while public, were previously difficult to find and collect.

“The database currently contains thousands of estimates from more than 100 reports. The estimates and targets in the TCDB are a result of DOE's detailed and ongoing road-mapping process for various technologies…to guide research and development investments and to define success metrics…The new database will soon allow experts outside of DOE to contribute reliable new data to continually expand and validate the cost information available…and downloadable from DOE's Open Energy Information platform…”

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