Cost Of Fossil Fuels Vs Renewable Energy

Even the most expensive renewable energy technology concentrated solar power csp is competitive against fossil fuels in some circumstances.

Cost of fossil fuels vs renewable energy.

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. To start let s compare the costs of solar energy and fossil fuels as we see them now. The ultimate way to compare solar energy to fossil fuels is by cost where solar has quickly caught up with its non renewable counterparts. These days the energy produced by renewables is just as affordable as energy produced by fossil fuels if not cheaper in some cases.

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. And which is cheaper. The cost of renewable energy has decreased significantly over the past decade. Some solar panel projects can even generate power at roughly half the cost of fossil.

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. Although renewable energy is growing it still needs extra investment up front in comparison to non renewable energy. As time progresses renewable energy technologies generally get cheaper while fossil fuels generally get more expensive. So how does the cost of these two types of energy compare.

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. These indirect and external costs can be harder to calculate but should certainly be considered. Well there are now solar and wind farms producing electricity at a lower cost than coal which has long been considered the cheapest source of power. 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.

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. However the idea that fossil fuels produce cheaper power is still very common. In terms of environmental impact solar power is a much more optimal resource than fossil fuels. Renewables can cost less than fossil fuels the old excuse that renewable energy is too expensive is just that.