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companies don’t cover these, the costs will be subsidized indirectly by everyone on
the planet.
Even renewable energy resources are not immune from externalized costs. Tax
breaks for wind turbines have become such an integral part of the business plan for
installing these units that the wind power industry claims they can’t compete against
coal-fired power plants without a tax subsidy. Externalizing some or most of the
costs of energy production encourages waste and pollution, discourages conservation, and stifles the development of new and cleaner energy resources.
Determining the true cost of energy is difficult in the presence of subsidies, tax
breaks and other externalized costs. To truly understand the economics and make a
valid comparison, the cost of electricity must be “levelized” by considering externalized costs on all energy sources. In addition to fossil fuel, this includes subsidies
for renewables, biofuels, hydropower, and nuclear, all of which have some degree of
externalized costs.
A fair and level comparison of the cost of electricity derived from different
sources shows that some of the most polluting are also the cheapest, thanks to externalized costs (USEIA 2018). For humanity to address climate change, the externalized costs that are currently paid by society must be placed squarely on those
customers who actually use GHG-emitting forms of energy. This will increase the
price of automobile fuel or coal-fired electricity, but it will also place the responsibility where it belongs.
There are technological solutions to climate change. For example, GHG can be
eliminated from coal-fired electricity by employing technology to capture nearly all
of the CO 2 emissions from the stack before they enter the atmosphere. As expected,
the costs per Kw/hour will be higher than if the capture technology was not
employed, but they are still comparable to the cost of nuclear electricity, which
produces no GHG (Soeder 2017). This is the key to reducing the impacts of fossil
fuels on climate change. Removing externalized costs to make fossil fuels more
expensive will also make them much cleaner, reduce overall use, and make non
GHG-emitting sources more price-competitive. In addition to the technology, such
a transition will require a combination of policy and economics to provide the
incentives needed to produce energy in a more sustainable manner.
11.3 Energy and Climate Sustainability
The largest externalized cost of fossil fuels is not landscape damage or oil spill
cleanup, but climate change. It is important to acknowledge the size of the problem.
The roots of fossil energy and climate change are built much more deeply into modern society than many people realize. Technological societies use electricity – lots
of it, and most burn coal to make it.
Virtually all transport vehicles, from motorbikes to intercontinental jet aircraft
run on liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Plastics are ubiquitous throughout society as structural and packaging materials and except for a few novelty plant-based items,
11.3 Energy and Climate Sustainability
companies don’t cover these, the costs will be subsidized indirectly by everyone on
the planet.
Even renewable energy resources are not immune from externalized costs. Tax
breaks for wind turbines have become such an integral part of the business plan for
installing these units that the wind power industry claims they can’t compete against
coal-fired power plants without a tax subsidy. Externalizing some or most of the
costs of energy production encourages waste and pollution, discourages conservation, and stifles the development of new and cleaner energy resources.
Determining the true cost of energy is difficult in the presence of subsidies, tax
breaks and other externalized costs. To truly understand the economics and make a
valid comparison, the cost of electricity must be “levelized” by considering externalized costs on all energy sources. In addition to fossil fuel, this includes subsidies
for renewables, biofuels, hydropower, and nuclear, all of which have some degree of
externalized costs.
A fair and level comparison of the cost of electricity derived from different
sources shows that some of the most polluting are also the cheapest, thanks to externalized costs (USEIA 2018). For humanity to address climate change, the externalized costs that are currently paid by society must be placed squarely on those
customers who actually use GHG-emitting forms of energy. This will increase the
price of automobile fuel or coal-fired electricity, but it will also place the responsibility where it belongs.
There are technological solutions to climate change. For example, GHG can be
eliminated from coal-fired electricity by employing technology to capture nearly all
of the CO 2 emissions from the stack before they enter the atmosphere. As expected,
the costs per Kw/hour will be higher than if the capture technology was not
employed, but they are still comparable to the cost of nuclear electricity, which
produces no GHG (Soeder 2017). This is the key to reducing the impacts of fossil
fuels on climate change. Removing externalized costs to make fossil fuels more
expensive will also make them much cleaner, reduce overall use, and make non
GHG-emitting sources more price-competitive. In addition to the technology, such
a transition will require a combination of policy and economics to provide the
incentives needed to produce energy in a more sustainable manner.
11.3 Energy and Climate Sustainability
The largest externalized cost of fossil fuels is not landscape damage or oil spill
cleanup, but climate change. It is important to acknowledge the size of the problem.
The roots of fossil energy and climate change are built much more deeply into modern society than many people realize. Technological societies use electricity – lots
of it, and most burn coal to make it.
Virtually all transport vehicles, from motorbikes to intercontinental jet aircraft
run on liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Plastics are ubiquitous throughout society as structural and packaging materials and except for a few novelty plant-based items,
11.3 Energy and Climate Sustainability