Renewable energy in the EC/US external costs of fuel cycle project

Project Information

Grant agreement ID: JOU20106

Start date 1 December 1992

End date 30 November 1994

Funded under

• Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of non-nuclear energy, 1990-1994

Total cost € 0,00

EU contribution No data

Coordinated by

CENTRO DE ESTUDOS EM ECONOMIA DA ENERGIA, DOS TRANSPORTES E DO AMBIENTE
Portugal

Exploitable results

Renewable energy in the EC/US - external costs of fuel cycle projects.

Rational environmental management requires knowledge of the environmental and social (e.g. employment) impacts which result from various energy cycles, and an assessment of their cost. In the majority of countries no such assessment has yet been made, therefore these external costs are not yet internalized by market forces or government regulations. The aim of this work, which forms part of the ExternE project, was to quantify the external costs (and benefits) of various renewable energy cycles in Portugal and the United Kingdom using existing information and available methods. The objective of this study was to develop a methodological approach for assessing external costs by implementing the ExternE methodology in Portugal and the United Kingdom through case studies. Assessment of the external costs of biomass, biogas and hydro-technologies were carried out to provide an estimate of the environmental costs of power and heat generation in Portugal. Preliminary external costs of photovoltaics have been evaluated for the United Kingdom. Thgis study has contributed to the future definition of a common accounting framework for internalising externalities in Europe.

External costs of fuel cycles - EU/US project Phase II

ExternE is a major project supported by JOULE, the main aim of which is to develop a unified methodology for quantifying externalities associated with the production and consumption of energy. The project also aimed to identify the critical methodological issues and research needs to achieve this. The methodology has been extensively applied to evaluate the external costs of different fuel cycles at sites throughout Europe. This project represents the second phase of ExternE and considerably extends the methodology to include a wide range of fuel cycles beyond those for coal and nuclear fuel which were considered in Phase I. It also supplements the original framework with new pathways and an accounting framework for security of supply issues.