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Cost-Environment Trade-Off in Using Renewable Energy in an Energy System

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Handbook of Smart Energy Systems

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Abstract

The development of renewable energy capacity is of interest to many countries that seek the decarbonization of their energy systems. Renewable technologies such as wind power and solar PV reduce GHG emissions and health impacts from energy consumption. Wind and solar technologies, however, are intermittent sources of energy and do not provide the same services conventional technologies such as natural gas and nuclear do. This chapter is aimed at presenting an overview of the factors that affect the cost-environment trade-off in using renewable technologies, including the initial cost of the technology, the O&M cost, and the health and climate impact reduction potential.

The chapter begins with an overview of the trend in renewable energy development and the policies implemented to accelerate that. Then, the advantages of renewable technologies and the challenges of a transition toward emission-free energy systems are discussed. The chapter continues by presenting an overview of the factors affecting the cost-environment trade-off of renewable technologies, including capital cost, O&M cost, backup generation requirements, and health and climate impact cost. To provide an insight into the future energy systems, this chapter concludes with a review of the literature focused on assessing the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of 100% renewable systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Musqueam Indian Band, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Ehsan Haghi

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Grace Anne Thompson

Authors
  1. Ehsan Haghi
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  2. Grace Anne Thompson
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Correspondence to Ehsan Haghi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information Technology and Decision Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Mahdi Fathi

  2. Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, MILANO, Milano, Italy

    Enrico Zio

  3. Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Florida, GAINESVILLE, FL, USA

    Panos M. Pardalos

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Haghi, E., Thompson, G.A. (2022). Cost-Environment Trade-Off in Using Renewable Energy in an Energy System. In: Fathi, M., Zio, E., Pardalos, P.M. (eds) Handbook of Smart Energy Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72322-4_56-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72322-4_56-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-72322-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-72322-4

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