Cost Of Fossil Fuels Vs Renewable Energy

Renewables can cost less than fossil fuels the old excuse that renewable energy is too expensive is just that.

Cost of fossil fuels vs renewable energy.

By 2020 the renewable power generation technologies now in use will be at the lower end of the fossil fuel cost range or even cheaper than fossil fuels. A new report from the international renewable energy agency predicts the price of renewable energy will be equal to or less than fossil fuels by 2020. These days the energy produced by renewables is just as affordable as energy produced by fossil fuels if not cheaper in some cases. In 2020 the average cost of residential solar was about 16 per kilowatt hour kwh and the national average for conventional electricity was 13 28 kwh.

Although renewable energy is growing it still needs extra investment up front in comparison to non renewable energy. The cost of developing a csp plant ranges from. In terms of reliable application coal and natural gas have the edge. So how does the cost of these two types of energy compare.

Even the most expensive renewable energy technology concentrated solar power csp is competitive against fossil fuels in some circumstances. The cost of renewable energy has decreased significantly over the past decade. These indirect and external costs can be harder to calculate but should certainly be considered. In terms of environmental impact solar power is a much more optimal resource than fossil fuels.

However the idea that fossil fuels produce cheaper power is still very common. The less solar power costs the more favorably it compares to conventional power and the more attractive it becomes to utilities and energy users around the globe. To start let s compare the costs of solar energy and fossil fuels as we see them now. As time progresses renewable energy technologies generally get cheaper while fossil fuels generally get more expensive.

Other than capital and operational running costs which are the main costs discussed in most studies and publications there are indirect and external costs to consider with renewable energy compared to fossil fuels and nuclear. The cost of renewable energy is now falling so fast that it should be a consistently cheaper source of electricity generation than traditional fossil fuels within just a few years according to a. Some solar panel projects can even generate power at roughly half the cost of fossil. And which is cheaper.