External costs of fossil fuel greater than cost of renewables says study
The external environmental costs saved by using green rather than fossil fuel power more than compensate for the higher -price electricity generated by renewable energy, says a new study commissioned by the federal environment ministry. Assuming a "best estimate" of the costs of climate damage by carbon emissions of EUR 70/tonne, renewables electricity saved at least EUR 2.8 billion in external costs in 2005, according to the study. The additional cost of paying a fixed premium for renewables electricity amounted to EUR 2.4 billion. In establishing the additional cost, the study assumed a market price of EUR 0.042/kWh. It was produced by the German aerospace research centre and the Fraunhofer Inst-itute for systems and innovation research.
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