AEman's Full Cost Energy Formula (first draft)
Of course, most folks in the AE community are somewhat familiar with the pure economic comparative cost points per kilowatt hour of new techs vs. old techs. In late 2004, with oil at or above $50 a barrel, current generation wind turbines have achieved rough parity with old tech with most solar installations still significantly more expensive to deploy than old tech generation approaches.
Without getting too provocative about this, I'm working on a formula that considers the related costs and ramifications of old and new tech energy. It factors in (have to work on weighting) two cost types beyond pure price per barrel of oil. Something like this:
Energy Produced (KWh) / Costs to produce ($) * Casualties (deaths + wounded) * Environmental impact ($).
Each of the categories will need some refining (no pun), and I don't want it to get too complicated, though certainly it'll need another layer or two of detail. I'll stay away from the more subjective attributes like non-financial environmental impacts, though environmental impacts should include things like increased health care costs from diminished air quality surrounding old tech power plants.
Help me out please - how would you tweak this for best communication and fit?
posted by Andy Bochman at 9:34 PM
 
|
