What is the Cheapest Energy Source?
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Electricity can be derived from various sources like oil, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, ocean and geothermal plants. In this article we will discuss the cost of sourcing electricity from the list we have mentioned however because costing involves a lot of factors such as demand and import cost, transportation and refining costs, capital costs and others, we will compare them using the levelized cost of electricity of LCOE.
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Oil can be found in deep reservoirs underground being the end product of decomposed organic matter for missions of years. Once extracted it can be refined into gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas including electricity fuels. The biggest drawback of this energy source is that it cannot be replenished and the decades of extraction have resulted to the decline of its popularity. Find out for further details right here www.sahkonkilpailutus.fi.
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Generating electricity by burning oil pollutes the environment particularly producing nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and other particulates. Bodies of water can be contaminated when oil residues and sludge come in contact with marine and aquatic habitats. Transportation and handling of oil have also resulted to accidents like oil spills that kills fishes, wildlife and spreads over plants and soil. You can click this link www.energia247.fi for more great tips!
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Coal much like oil produces electricity through burning. It also emits pollutants to the environment such as sulfur dioxides that causes acid-rain, mercury and nitrogen oxides. Because coal is extracted in solid form, there is no drilling involved. Coal is being mined and the environmental damaged caused by destroying forests and vegetation, contaminating river and streams and greenhouse emissions.
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Power stations that derive their electricity from natural gas. Although this is a form of fossil fuel, natural gas are less damaging to the environment. It burns cleaner than oil and coal with no emissions of sulfur dioxide. Emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxide are also low but it still accounts for almost 27% of greenhouse gas emissions.
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The last source of electricity are what we call renewable energy. These are resources that produces energy but are naturally replenished over time. These includes geothermal heat, sunlight, biomass, wind and water. Renewable energy is the energy of the future and will ultimately replace fossil fuel however the technology and power plants to extract and deliver electricity in a massive scale is limited. At present, none of these sources can effectively meet the global electricity needs.
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To compare the prices of electricity from the above sources, we use the formula for LCOE or levelized cost of electricity that compares on a comparable basis the different processes of generating electricity.
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In an international study, the cheapest source of electricity per MWh is coal. The LCOE varies depending on what country you are, the technology available and what sources of energy are used. Kindly visit this website http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Money-on-Electricity for more useful reference.