Environmental Engineering Reference
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A bounty of studies investigating the cost of externalities associated with
fossil fuel electricity generation have all arrived at the same conclusion
that even if conservative estimates regarding the cost of externalities (i.e.,
using the current price of carbon credits as a proxy for all external costs)
are employed, fossil fuel electricity sources become more expensive than
hydropower and wind power. 45 While the speciic cost data may vary with
the source, the general conclusion that many alternative energy technolo-
gies are viable competitors on economic grounds to fossil fuel technologies
is becoming less of a point of contention.
Looking forward, the trends of ampliied fossil fuel generation costs and
declining alternative energy costs are expected to continue. A 2010 report
by Mott and MacDonald for the UK Department of Energy and Climate
Change also looked at the levelized costs of major electricity generation
technologies. 46 As Figure 1.9 indicates, onshore wind power and nuclear
power are considered to be the most economically attractive generation
technologies for the United Kingdom over the next decade. Although the
Mott MacDonald estimates clash somewhat with the US Department of
Energy estimates (Figure 1.8), this should not be misinterpreted as one
study being more accurate than the other, but rather as evidence that gen-
eration cost estimates are dependent on a lot of local factors and modeling
assumptions that render comparison between countries to be fraught with
ambiguity. Again, the point of this discussion is not to establish a deinitive
estimate for electricity costs broken down by technology, but to highlight
the commercial viability of wind power.
170
160
Onshore wind
Offshore wind
Combined Cycle
Gas Turbine
Nuclear Fission
Advanced Super
Critical Coal
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
2008
2009
2013
2017
Figure  1.9 . Current and Projected Levelized Costs for Electricity Technologies in the
United Kingdom
Source : Mott MacDonald (2010).
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