Fossil fuels
Fossil fuels are the primary supplier of energy in the current world since they contribute more energy produced daily than other sources. This is due to the sources of fossil energy are considered to be cheaper than other forms of generating and harnessing energy. This has led to the extended usage of fossil fuels around the world for a long time since it was discovered. However, renewable energy sources were found and have been developed to provide eco-friendly energy to the world. Renewable sources have been used in numerous locations and different industries on a small scale due to the comparison of its cost to that of fossil fuels. Renewable energy cost is considered to be dropping with some of the renewable energy sources competing with fossil fuels solely on financial terms. This illustrates that the cost of other renewable energy sources is expected to drop considerably soon while that of the fossil energy sources is rising. This could lead to the transitioning of energy from fossil sources to renewable sources soon. This is considered possible due to numerous economic factors influencing this transitioning.
With the changes in the costs of renewable energy sources, a cost comparison between fossil energy sources and renewable energy sources. This is done to determine the cost-effective energy source and determine the competitiveness of renewable energy sources to fossil energy sources. This process is done by calculating the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) (Lai et al., 2017). The Levelized cost describes the cost of developing and operating a renewable energy source plant within a specific period (Boubault et al., 2016). This cost is calculated using the real terms to ensure the effect of inflation is removed.
Figure 1: Cost Comparison of Renewable Energy Sources to Fossil Fuel Electricity Costs
In the figure above, the cost of some renewable energy sources to the fossil fuel electricity that has been in use for a long time (Rosa-Clot & Tina, 2020). For renewable energy to be considered competitive, it is expected to be in the range of fossil fuel costs. This will make the renewable sources interchangeable since there is either less cost when using them or equal cost. With renewable energy sources having numerous benefits to the climate and the environment compared to fossil fuels, having the same cost or less would make renewable a better choice of energy source (Liang et al., 2019). In the figure above, it is evident that the cost of renewable energy for most sources falls in the range of fossil fuel costs.
Biomass and geothermal indicate an already identified replacement of fossil fuel sources since they are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels (Moret et al., 2016). An average American with a supply of biomass material can implement the source of energy and benefit from the ecofriendly energy produced through this method (Pekez et al., 2016). According to the figure above, the solar energy source is the only source that is costly since the use of photovoltaics is expensive, thus increasing the cost of using the energy source (Kavlak et al., 2018). On the other hand, the average person in the United States can also use the wind energy source since its cost falls in the range of energy from fossil sources.
Figure 2: Solar and Wind Energy Cost Declining
In the figure above, costs have been projected to show how the future of renewable energy sources will be in the United States (Ram et al., 2018). The figure shows a projection of the cost of solar and wind energy declining with an expectation of these sources being cheap and implementable in homes. The forecast shown above illustrates that the cost will continue falling as years pass by, although slower than the past (Azimoh et al., 2017). The costs of the renewable sources of energy are considered to be predictable in the future due to the trends that have been illustrated in the figures above.
On the other hand, fossil energy sources are considered to be unpredictable since the increase in the usage of renewable energy sources and advocacy due to their Eco-friendliness has a high effect on the future of fossil fuel sources (Maleksaeidi et al., 2017). According to Barbose (2017), “a U.S. Department of Energy report, installed prices of U.S. P.V. systems fell by 5-7% per year on average from 1998-2011and by 11-14% from 2010- 2011, with further price declines expected in the future” (Barbose, 2017). This illustrates that renewable sources of energy are declining in cost at a high rate, making them a replacement for the fossil energy sources in the near future within the United States and globally (Harris et al., 2016). However, according to Hamm et al. (2019), “Cost challenges for producing renewable energy include renewables’ net energy, their intermittency, and their capital intensity” (Hamm et al., 2019).
Fossil fuels currently used to produce energy are considered to have a high concentration of energy. It is believed that a gallon of gasoline provides energy up to 37kWh, thus illustrating that fossil fuels have high energy concentration (Qi et al., 2017). In comparison to a human being, “a person burns 0.13kWh while running thus illustrating that an average man has to run for 285 hours which is equivalent to 12 days to achieve the energy level in one gallon of gasoline” (Shehabi et al., 2016). Also, in comparison to a P.V. solar panel, “standard size of 3 inches by 6 inches can only generate 0.2kWh every hour when there is bright sunshine” (Hadar et al., 2016). This illustrates that the solar panel will take a month to produce the same energy produced by a gallon of gasoline. This makes fossil fuels convenient since they contain a high concentration of energy in little amounts (Abd-ur-Rehman et al., 2018). The ration of the Net energy in an energy source involves energy in the source that can be used divided by the energy used to produce the energy (King & Van Den Bergh, 2018). High ratios illustrate that the source is an efficient investment for energy production.
Figure 3: Net Energy Ratios for Various Energy Sources
Renewable energy sources are also considered to be unmatched to the demand of energy compared to fossil sources. There are factors that affect the effectiveness of renewable sources since they have to occur naturally and not when the user intends to use the energy (Rasheed et al., 2016). In electricity, demand is high and required throughout, thus requiring a source that can offer energy all along. Renewable sources lack the capability to supply the energy needed at a given moment (Kannan & Vakeesan, 2016). This makes fossil fuels a useful source of energy since they can deliver the amount of energy required at a specific time.
In conclusion, there are numerous differences between the choice of using fossil fuels over renewable energy and vice versa. According to this study, it is evident that renewable energy sources have projected a lowering in the cost used to deliver energy using the sources. However, even with the lowering of the cost used to produce energy using renewable sources, they are unable to provide energy on-demand, unlike fossil fuels, where they can be tuned to deliver specific energy amounts on demand.
References
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