THE REAL ECONOMICS OF NEW ENERGY

Is Renewable Energy Economically Viable?

Tom Lombardo, February 8, 2016 (Engineering)

“…Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) is a commonly used metric to compare the costs of various energy generation technologies. Put simply, LCOE is the ratio of the total cost of the power source to the total energy output over its life, expressed in dollars per kWh. The total cost takes into account the initial capital investment, interest, operations & maintenance costs, and fuel expenses…[But it fails to consider environmental impacts, the reliability and availability of the energy source]……Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) shifted the discussion [about New Energy] from idealism to pragmatism in Estimating Renewable Energy Economic Potential in the United States: Methodology and Initial Results…The study showed that in all three scenarios, there are long-term economic benefits to adding renewable energy to the grid…for every region of the continental US, with different renewable sources favored in certain areas…” click here for more

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