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Should the price for electricity be increased?
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Written on: 19 September 2010 [13:11]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 585
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We all know that electricity is relatively cheap compared to other power sources. We also know that some forms of electricity (nuclear) is sold too cheap and does not reflect the true costs. Humans generally do not make much efforts in conserving something if costs are neglectable. In order not to do the same mistake again like in the oil-age by selling energy at a too low price, shouldn't be the price of electricity raised (or taxed) to a level that people start to conserve more? What usually works well too is to give incentives for those who already use renewable sources and usually pay the real price and to tax those who do not use renewable energy to make them pay for the real costs? I think such practices would help to clean our grid much quicker than those presently in place would do. What is your view on the case? Is non-renewable electricity sold at a too low price? Twike 890
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Written on: 07 October 2010 [21:10]
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krazeecain
registered since: 07.10.2010
Posts: 5
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I think intentionally raising the price on anything to "encourage" consumers is foul play. Most consumers have dependencies on electricity >.> and can't afford to buy windmills and stuff. It's these kinds of practices that kick the poor in the nuts. Whether we make more "Eco-friendly" decisions or not should NOT have to be governed by our budget! >.< |
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Written on: 01 November 2010 [20:44]
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OwningElectricCar
 
registered since: 16.01.2010
Posts: 31
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I'm going to go to the other extreme and say that electricity should be given away free of charge. Or at least, if not free of charge, make it so cheap that there is no point metering it - customers pay €100 a year and that is the only cost - they can use as much or as little as they like. Extreme? Yup. But now let me explain my thinking. Back in the 1950s, the promise of nuclear power was supposed to create a power generation source that would make electricity so cheap it wasn't worth metering it. The logic was that nuclear power stations did not require refueling - once it was set up and switched on, it would just churn out lots of loverly electrickery with minimal maintenance, and after 25 years you build a new one and switch the old one off. Of course, it never happened in real life, but lets just suppose it had happened. What sort of world would we be living in now? For a start, we would use electricity for heating our houses, cooking our food and powering our cars. Why would anyone want to pay extra for gas or petroleum? The amount of investment put into battery development would have meant long distance electric cars and fast charging stations would have been the norm for the past 30-40 years. Hydrogen would be the fuel for bigger heavy vehicles needing to go long distances with hydrogen being created at the fuel stations through electrolysis. Global warming would never have been an issue. Coal and natural gas would not have a value, oil would be an expensive product used in relatively small amounts and with a thousand years of supply available before we reach peak oil. On a global scale, water desalination plants would have resolved the problems with drought in Africa, and billions of people in the world would have a higher standard of living because of a virtually free and constant power source. Back to reality and back to the present time. We don't have free electricity. But what would happen if we did? That is the real question we should be asking ourselves. How do we make electricity virtually free? To make something virtually free, so that it can be given away, it has to be something that has a relatively small capital investment to get going, followed by almost no running costs. That rules out any power source that requires refueling, such as coal or oil or gas. Nuclear has too high a maintenance cost to make it free, so that can be discarded as well. So what technology - or technologies can we use to create a global supply of electricity that can be so cheap it can be given away for virtually nothing? I haven't got an answer. There are lots of technologies that have that potential, but the answer to that question does not fully exist yet. But the sooner we start working on an answer to the question, the sooner we can genuinely make a difference to this world. Author of the book 'Owning an Electric Car' - http://www.OwningElectricCar.com
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