According to a study by Exxon Mobil natural gas will replace coal as the leading fuel in US electrical power generation by the year 2025. It will also become the worlds number two source of all energy behind oil. The above chart shows the present cost of producing a kilowatt of electricity. Notice gas is the cheapest at about two thirds of the cost of onshore wind energy. Photovoltaic solar, Solyndra's forte is more than three times as expensive a gas powered generation. In addition to cost consider reliability. Gas and coal generation have a century long history of generating power 24/7 while wind and solar are whimsical at best. So how does the Obama administration deal with this reality and the projected reality? It fights the trend and pushes wind and solar. They've confused energy independence with stupidity.
You get a double bonus by using natural gas instead of coal. The fuel cost is cheaper but so is power plant construction. Coal fired power plants must be fitted with electrostatic precipitator to remove particulate matter (fly ash) and "scrubbers" to extract the sulfur dioxide. In addition to the considerable initial costs of building the precipitators and scrubbers there is the ongoing headache of depositing of the fly ash and expended hydrated lime from the scrubbers. You could take a 1950's era coal fired plant and convert it to burn natural gas and exceed all present EPA requirement. This makes the Employment Prevention Agency's war on fracking even more absurd.
No comments:
Post a Comment