A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR EVALUATING THE REAL COST OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY

It is widely accepted that electric energy production from fossil fuel s has a significant environmental impact. This impact can be estimated if the energy cost is calculated in terms of real economy. Many exper ts have tried to quantify the real cost by evaluating the damages occa sioned to mankind and the environment during the entire fuel cycle. In this work, we propose a practical alternative method based on the phi losophy of avoiding the damage rather than paying for it. The method a ssumes as a reference a new type of power plant equipped with all devi ces suitable to reduce the chemical pollutants down to a desired envir onmental standard. The result is an increasing factor which should be accounted for when calculating the present energy cost. The method has been applied to roughly estimate the mentioned increasing factor in a grid of central power stations typical of industrialized countries wi th the prevalent dependence on fossil fuels. Under the hypothesis of r educing the pollutant emissions (including carbon dioxide) by a factor of 10 and accounting for social costs related to the fuel cycle and t he waste disposal, a factor larger than 3 between real and internal co sts was found.