After a long hiatus, I’m back to building on our relatively comprehensive page on World Wind Power.
The Short Story on Subsidies:
1. only taking some hidden coal subsidies out of the picture, coal would be 2-3 times more expensive than wind (and that’s if wind got absolutely no subsidies!);
2. nuclear energy received as much in subsidies each year from 1950-1990 as wind had received in total up to 2007, $3.75 billion (even with all those subsidies, many of which continue today, nuclear can’t compete with other electricity sources)… and this is not taking into account considerable environmental and storage externalities;
3. big oil got more money in tax breaks in 2011 alone ($4 billion) than the wind industry had received in total up to 2007 ($3.75 billion), and it is expected to get $77 billion more by 2021.
In other words, wind power subsidies are nothing compared to fossil fuel and nuclear industry subsidies. Without subsidies, electricity prices would be:
- Wind Power: 6-7 cents/kWh
- Nuclear Power: 11-20+ cents/kWh
- Coal Power: 9-32+ cents/kWh
And coal and nuclear costs are expected to rise considerably in coming years while wind costs fall.
—>> Page 2: More on What Subsidies Are
—>> Page 3: Info on Big Oil, Coal, & Nuclear Subsidies
—>> Page 4: Info on Wind Subsidies & Summary
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