TOPIC 3. Environmental/Societal Cost of Energy

What is the cost of energy? In the United States, we pay about $1.50 per gallon at the gas station and $0.10 per kWh of electricity. These are the costs charged to the consumers, but they do not necessarily represent the actual energy costs placed on the society as a whole. All energy usage has some negative impact on the environment. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil produces emissions of greenhouse and acid gases that result in global warming and acid rain, respectively. Fossil fuels are also the responsible for emission of air pollutants that have been proven to be carcinogenic. Even renewable energy sources have some small negative impact on the environment. Hydroelectric power dams, for example, can flood vast areas of land and damage genetic ecological systems. In general, however, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, have much smaller environmental impact than that of fossil-fuel energy sources. It has been estimated that if the environmental/societal cost is added, the cost of electricity could be increased from $0.10 to $0.15 per kWh. The increase in the cost of electricity would encourage the use of solar electric power, which is estimated to be about $0.25 per kWh. These energy costs area real bargain when compared with the energy cost of batteries. People all over the world pay between $300 to $900 a kWh for alkaline batteries for Walkmans, CD players, video games, etc.

 

Environmental/societal Costs of Energy
The Cost of Primary Battery Power
Life Cycle Assessment
The Cost of Rechargeable Battery Power



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