The following information and statistics have been found through the group presentations, class lecture and discussions, the IEA Database website, as well as the WBDG Database.
○ Solar
i. Indirect Costs: Indirect costs include the waste and recycling panels after “death.” There are fees that need to be paid in order for it to be recycled and vary on the amount of panels planned to be recycled (“Solar Group Presentation”). ii. Direct Costs: In 2017, an estimate of $10,000 - $13,000 per 5kW. Also, there is an additional tax credit of 30% of the total cost (“Solar Group Presentation”). Although this is just an estimate, prices can vary depending on the discount rates. If there is a 5% discount, the generation of solar electricity can
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Last but not least, another indirect cost is the health of humans as coal contains toxic and cancer causing chemicals. ii. Direct Costs: Most direct costs include coal power plants and energy generation. For coal power plants, it’s estimated to cost within $1,000-$5,000 per kWe. Although the time it takes to construct these power plants takes years, the prices stay pretty secured. As mentioned earlier, the discount rates do vary and ultimately, change the price estimates of generation. For a 5% discount, the costs of generation range from $30-$50 per MWh. For a 10% discount, the costs of generation range from $35-$60 per MWh. (“Projected Costs of Generating Electricity” 12). The 10% discount is slightly more expensive, but not by much.
○ Biomass
i. Indirect Costs: Some of the indirect costs include the unsorted solid waste from the harmful chemicals released as they’re toxic and can harm humans, animals, and even plants. Another indirect cost includes the quality of water stored as it may or not may be filtered often. Last but not least, an indirect cost can include the conversion of land as it takes up a lot of landscape and could take up more if needed. ii. Direct Costs: Through the WBDG (a national science program), they were able to help me find the construction of biomass plants estimates within $3,000-$4,000 per kW with a “levelized cost of energy of $0.8 to $0.15 per kWh” (“Biomass for Electricity Generation.”).
Depending upon the size of the healthcare facility the direct and indirect cost may not always follow the same cost object between entities. They will likely vary greatly; contingent on the size and how the facility is owned and operated.
According to Shahan (2014) "in the state of Florida going solar cost around to $24,692 resulting
I would have to say that from the reading that it can be very harmful for the coal mining chemicals to seep into the ground into our drinking water.
Moving into the next renewable energy, there is a big advantage that hydroelectric power is that hydropower dams is a huge renewable resource and using water to create electricity has no carbon footprint. As well as there is less pollution from it overall. There are many advantages but there are two distinct disadvantages, one of them being the cost to build an electric power station. The cost
Coal ash also contains selenium which is already needed in our body, but excess amounts can lead to impaired vision, paralysis, and even death. The ash contains a lot of lead, exposure to lead can cause numerous issues in your brain affecting your nervous system and can cause brain swelling. Arsenic which is found in the ash can be harmful, if ingested it can lead to nervous system damage and cardiovascular issues. If arsenic that is found in the ash is absorbed through the skin can cause skin cancer. Coal ash contain boron also can cause damage to the intestines and even death. The EPA is responsible for protecting the environment from these types of spills, but in the case of properly disposing the ash the EPA ruled that coal ash was classified as a non-hazardous material leaving it up to the companies to dispose of it as they want
This paper will review past practices and policies relating to mountaintop coal mining, evaluate and analyze current research on the impact of coal mining on human health, and provide recommendations for further research guided by logic and in agreement with biblical truth.
Things like mining too far into a wall that connects to an older mine, thus increasing the danger of a collapse, is common. Other practices include shoddy dams that contain the slurry, a mixture of water and fine particles of coal, which do not always meet structural regulations that can and have broken and flood nearby communities (Light and Light, 2006). There are other environmental issues that are associated with coal mining. Acid mine drainage is the result of sulfide minerals being exposed to oxygen. This produces sulfuric acid and can dissolve heavy metals from the waste rock, making it bioavailable. Without proper treatment, this will poison the water systems near that mine and will seep into the streams, creeks, and even ground and well water. The water turns orange and is impossible for anything to live off of the water or in it (Kirsch, 2014). Another issue of coal mining is airborne coal dust, which can result in Black Lung disease. This is caused by inhaling too much coal dust and is common in miners, but with surface mining becoming more prevalent, more coal dust is being released into the air and drifting down to the communities. More children and elderly people are having respiratory problems that many believe are because of
One of these concerns is that the cost transitioning to clean energy would be too expensive. It is true that shifting to green energy would have notable start-up costs; however, generating energy from these
The United States (U.S.) gets 84% of its total energy from oil, coal, and natural gas, all of which are fossil fuels ("Fossil Fuels.") And in 2008, 49% of U.S. electricity came from just coal. This is largely due to the abundant supply of coal in the U.S., and it is a relatively inexpensive energy source. However, what are the costs of
The amount of money you will save on your next bill is determined by how many solar panels you have for your house. On an average, a person will generally save between fifty to one hundred dollars on their next bill, even more if they have more panels. Some of the people who do not use electricity as often as others, will have a surplus of electricity generated. This surplus of energy will be sent back into the grid, if the solar panels they have are connected to a grid, and they have the potential of receiving payments for this extra energy. The solar panels can also store energy in them after daylight hours to use during the
With that being said here are some environmental impacts of coal you may not know about. The air pollutants cause acid rain, smog ,respiratory illnesses, cancers and toxins in the environment. Coal miners can get respiratory illnesses from the coal dust while mining. If an abandoned coal mine catches fire it puts tons of mercury into the atmosphere, this happens every year and is responsible for three percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally. The second largest contributor to
that producing energy from solar photovoltaic (PV) is the most expensive, with a cost of 21.1 ¢/kWh due to the high prices of solar panels. Contrarily, the least priced renewable energy to generate is hydropower at 8.6 ¢/kWh considering dams require very low maintenance and can last up to 50 years. Petroleum is the most costly fossil fuel to generate, amounting at 12.5 ¢/kWh because petroleum is laborious to pump. Natural gas offers the lowest generation cost of 6.6 ¢/kWh, with the reason being that the technologies for drilling and cracking is
In addition, solar energy operational costs are manageable. It is free from monthly charges compared to conventional sources of energy. Solar energy does not require raw materials such as oil and coal, and once the panels are built, there will be no monthly charges. In addition, the prices of fossil fuels are increasing day by day, and this means conventional energy will be very expensive. Solar energy will remain the most capable world’s future power supply because, it is cost effective once the plants are built, and there will be no transport costs like for conventional energy sources. Therefore, solar energy is cost-effective, and will help in future energy supply, as the maintenance cost is affordable, as long as they are installed properly, and are working efficiently ( Hans, 2012). Furthermore, with the improvement and advancement of technology, it will increase its efficiency, and cost of production thus, making it more cost effective and the world’s best
Like you can see there can be either costs, or benefits that affect those third parties. When it is a cost that is imposed on third parties, it is called a negative externality; negative externalities occur when a decision or activity imposes costs on anyone that is not involved in the making of the decision, that is if a decision imposes any kind of external cost, which are
The costs for installations are outrageous and it will take years just to make the installation fees back. If more of these expensive farms are built before we can research to get the price lowered, we will all be hurting through our tax dollars. So beware… solar technology isn’t as friendly as it seems!