Wind Power Subsidies Don’t Compare to Fossil Fuel & Nuclear Subsidies

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us federal energy subsidies

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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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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