Introduction and Structure - Renewable Energy: Technology, Economics and Environment - page 22

Heat generation costs. The specific heat production costs of these plants are cal-
culated on the basis on the same economic boundary conditions compared to the
electricity generation costs (interest rate of 4.5 %, amortization period correspond-
ing to the plant's technical life time) and the technical assumptions outlined in
Table 1.7. They are summarised as follow.
For instance, the assessed oil-fired heating system is characterised by heat pro-
duction costs at the plant of approximately 18 €/GJ (MFH) and 23 €/GJ (SFH-III)
respectively. The assessed gas-fired heating system, by contrast, has slightly
higher heat provision costs, amounting to scarcely 20 €/GJ (MFH) and 24 €/GJ
(SFH-III; Table 1.7) respectively. In both cases, the costs are caused to an equal
share by the expenses for fuels, and for erection and operation of the heat provi-
sion system. The assessment also reveals that heat production costs largely depend
on the installed capacity. Therefore, they increase significantly with decreasing
thermal capacity (i.e. SFH-II respectively SFH-I). For instance, for SFH-I (i.e.
low-energy detached family house) they amount to about 40 €/GJ.
Environmental analysis. Besides the consumption of fossil fuel energy and
emissions of harmful substances, pollutants are released into soil, air, and water
during the operation of oil-fired or natural gas-fired heating installations. These
pollutants show very different environmental effects. One example of such envi-
ronmental effects is unburned hydrocarbons contributing to the creation of near-
surface ozone when exposed to UV irradiation (i.e. summer smog).
In addition, also the provision of fossil fuels is associated with a series of ef-
fects which may damage the environment.
− When drilling wells or extracting crude oil and natural gas, chemical auxiliary
material, for oil-well drilling and oil production, crude oil itself may enter the
surrounding soil (onshore) or the sea (offshore); this could have significant ef-
fects on the environment.
− During the transportation of crude oil or crude oil products by sea, tanker acci-
dents have recurrently had disastrous effects on the aquatic flora and fauna.
− When processing crude oil within refineries, a series of non-usable products are
created that need to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Also, volatile hydro-
carbons may be released into air, soil, and water when processing crude oil.
− Also, potential hazards during the transport of fuel oil from the refinery to the
consumers represent a major source of danger in particular for soils and waters.
If, for instance, oil tanks stored in the basement of dwelling houses are over
flown in case of flooding, fuel oil may leak from the tank and enter surface wa-
ters. The environmental hazards due to this oil leakage are often more serious
than the environmental effects caused by the flood itself.