292 Energy andtransport for thefutureTable 11.6Current status and potential future costs of renewable energy technologies. The costs can
be compared with typical current costs of fossil fuel supplied energy of 3 to 6¢US kWh−^1Increase
in
installed Potential
capacity Operating Energy Turnkey Energy future
in last five capacity production, investment cost in energy
years – end year Capacity 1998 costs year 1999 cost
Technology (% p.a.) 1998 GWa factor (%) TWha ($US kW−^1 )(¢US kWh−^1 )(¢US kWh−^1 )
Hydro
electricity
Large ∼ 2 640 (e) 35–60 2510 (e) 1000–3500 3–8 3–8
Small ∼ 3 23 (e) 20–70 90 (e) 1200–3000 5–10 4–10
Biomass
energy
Electricity ∼ 3 40 (e) 25–80 160 (e) 900–3000 5–15 4–10
Heatb ∼ 3 >200 (th) 25–80 >700 (th) 250–750 1–5 1–5
Ethanol ∼ 318 × 109 litres 120 3–9 2–4
(=420 PJ)
Wind electricity ∼ 30 10 (e) 20–30 18 (e) 1100–1700 5–13 3–10
Solar PV ∼ 30 500 (e) 8–20 0.5 (e) 5000–10 000 25–125 5 or 6–25
electricity
Solar thermal ∼ 5 400 (e) 20–35 1.0 (e) 3000–4000 12–18 4–10
electricity
Low temperature ∼ 8 18 (th) 8–20 14 (th) 500–1700 3–20 2 or 3–10
solar heat
Geothermal
energy
Electricity ∼ 4 8 (e) 45–90 46 (e) 800–3000 2–10 1 or 2–8
Heat ∼ 6 11 (th) 20–70 40 (th) 200–2000 0.5–5 0.5–5
Marine
Tidal 0 300 (e) 20–30 0.6 (e) 1700–2500 8–15 8–15
Currentc 25–35 2000–3000 8–15 5–7
Wavec 20–35 1500–3000 8–20
a(e) refers to electrical energy and (th) to thermal energy.
bHeat embodied in steam (or hot water in district heating) often produced by CHP using various forms of biomass.
cStill in experimental phase.
Source:Goldemberg, J. (ed.)World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challange of Sustainability.Table 4 from
Overview.