Renewable energy at calculable costs

The costs of the finite energy resources; oil, natural gas and coal are continuously rising. The crude oil price has tripled since 2000 and in 2008 reached the 140 dollar per barrel mark (159 litre); in 2009 the price per barrel declined sharply to around 62 dollar. The world market price for coal also rose from around 42 euro per tonne to a good 90 euro during this period; in 2009 the average price per tonne was 79 euro. Due to worldwide increasing demand for energy and increasing scarcity of the finite resources this trend will doubtlessly continue.

Sun, wind, water power, geothermal energy and bioenergy on the other hand are permanently available at long-term calculable costs. While the conventional energy sources are becoming increasingly more expensive, the costs for renewable energy have already fallen by around half over the past 15 years. The industry aims to achieve further cost cuts of 40 percent by 2020.

The subsidy of renewable energy still currently necessary is countered by large economic benefits. Use of coal, oil and natural gas produces environmental, climate and health damage which is not reflected in the prices of these fuels. Renewable energy avoids climate damage and costs for energy imports. Feeding renewable energy into the grid also reduces the electricity price of the exchange. In this way it produces more net benefits for the whole economy than its subsidy costs.