- The Cost of Our Energy0.14 MB
We often speak of ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ forms of energy. In the South African context, coal is commonly regarded as cheap – it is abundant, low-tech, and well-understood as the fuel for most of our power-stations. Solar and wind energy, on the other hand, are seen as expensive – the technology is new, there are few economies of scale, and many people cannot afford the initial capital outlay to install solar water heating, for example.
To gain a deeper understanding of the comparative costs of the various energy options, the CPLO hosted a roundtable discussion in November 2011 which was addressed by Dr Andrew Marquard, a senior researcher at the University of Cape Town’s Energy Research Unit. This briefing paper is partly based on what was discussed at the roundtable.
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