Addressing the environmental and social impacts of renewable energy projects, such as land use and community opposition, can also add to costs.
It’s a pity to see how some countries are giving priority to energy deployment over food security of supply. Agricultural land must be protected and land that cannot be converted, used or exploited as agricultural should be embraced by local communities and environmentalists for the purpose of social development of which electricity is a key driver. Unhealthy opposition by environmentalists drives costs up by forcing developers to lose the incentives in what seemed to be a suitable locations.
17. Technological Maturity:
Some renewable technologies are still maturing, and ongoing R&D costs contribute to higher prices.
Technology developers are always looking for the next big thing. This differentiates them, and adds customer value. Unfortunately, developing new technologies is costly. Companies must allocate significant portion of their profits for research and development without any guarantees that their findings will make a difference.
Utilizing newer, or more available minerals and materials is also of prime importance. This avoids the risk of mineral exhaustion or lack or reduction of supply yet adds another component of risk, namely the unknown availability of the new mineral and materials. Thus technological maturity may actually never occur.
18. Financing Costs:
High financing costs for renewable energy projects, particularly in markets with higher perceived risks, can lead to higher overall project costs.
Global market uncertainty has led banks and financial institutions to decrease their bearable risk. This means, financing costs have increased leading to a significant increase in the deployment of renewable energy projects.
19. Subsidy Removal:
In some regions, the removal of subsidies for traditional fossil fuels has led to higher overall energy prices, impacting perceptions of renewable energy costs.
20. Competition with Conventional Energy:
Fossil fuel prices can fluctuate and sometimes decrease, making renewable energy comparatively more expensive.
We have been convinced that solar and wind energy are better than anything else. People tend to block thoughts of nuclear or other zero emission power generation facilities whilst mineral batteries, product of minerals extracted once from the earth, never to be used or recycled. We have been convinced that not matter what solar, and wind are better than anything else. This blinds us from other realities putting us in a position to oppose anything that is not solar and/or wind, at whatever cost.
