nakedjaybird

To Meet Wind Power Goals, Government Action Needed

I wonder if we would be better served if comparisons of the various energy technologies were shown as:

1) the installed capital cost per unit energy peak,

2) the production energy cost per unit of energy peak,

3) the production energy cost per unt of energy produced with

4) the as-produced appropriate capacity factor,

5) time from start of construction to producton, and

6) the development of a complexity factor (considering associated activities etc., for exploration, mining, drilling, processing, transportation, remediation, waste, pollution, regulations, supporting industry complexities, legal, siting and enviornmental, etc.); and then,

7) a life-cycle cost/year on the initial fixed cost investment, and

8) a life-cycle cost/year on the variable cost including all operating, maintenance, and replacement costs.

In other words some financial considerations, and then some non-financial considerations.

All good CEO's and Directors know that leadership performance normally has both types of financial and non-financial objectives to measure their performance. And some short term and long term measures.

The articles cost comparisons shown do not necessarily consider all these factors, especially for several of the technologies shown such as solar and wind where the energy source is readily available, free and forever, with low maintenance and minimal complexities. Of course, hydro, oil, wood, biomass, biofuel, geothermal, etc., were absent.

So, let's smarten up our comparisons with some financial fixed costs and variable costs differentiation; life-cycle costs; and some non-financial considerations. Most reasonable businesses do that for evaluation purposes.