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Falling clean energy technology costs spur development

  • Märkte: Electricity, Emissions
  • 19.09.13

Washington, 19 September (Argus) — Dramatically lower costs have helped spur a surge in deployment for four clean energy technologies, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The costs of wind generation, solar photovoltaic panels, electric vehicles and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have all dropped significantly in recent years. As a result, there has been a surge in consumer, industrial and commercial deployment. The technologies still represent a small slice of their respective markets, but “are growing rapidly,” DOE said.

While the cost of wind turbines increased from 2004-2008 because of higher commodity prices, they are now down to about 4¢/kWh. The lower cost, along with help from the 2.3¢/kWh federal production tax credit, helped wind account for 43pc of new electricity generation capacity last year, the largest share of any source.

Solar PV modules have declined in cost from $3.40/watt to 80¢/W from 2008-2012 and are now about 99pc cheaper than 35 years ago. The amount of PV generation capacity grew almost ten-fold from 2008-2012, from 735MW to 7,200MW.

The cost of LEDs, which are 80pc more efficient that traditional incandescent light bulbs, has fallen from $50 per light to about $15 in recent years, DOE said. Their use has increased dramatically, from less than 400,000 lights in 2009 to 50mn used in the US by 2013. DOE has previously estimated that widespread use of LEDs could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 1.8bn metric tonnes from 2010-2030.

The cost of electric vehicle batteries has fallen by more than 50pc in the last four years, leading to increased deployment, DOE said. The market for electric vehicles tripled in size last year and doubled in the first half of 2013 from 2012's first half. The cost of lithium-ion batteries was close to $500/kWh last year. But DOE said some projections suggest it could fall to $200/kWh by 2020. DOE is working with industry to drive the cost down to $125/kWh by 2022.

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