(Criterion A)

Part 1: focus on the country

Chosen Country:USA

Which fossil fuel do they rely on:Coal

How much is the direct cost per KWH in that country:

7 cents per KWH

What externalities do they face?

Economic Externalities Environmental Externalities

Advantages Advantages
Created 2000 mining jobs mostly in
West Virginia which is a poor area with According to a coal
little alternatives jobs (2% growth rate)company-sponsored website, they are
Employs 53,000 people nationally required by law to reclaim (repair) the
landscape back to the old conditions.
A lot of areas where the main industries A lot of Lavenders are planted there as
in West Virginia are coal companies. it can thrive in a rocky environment.
This means the biggest taxpayer in the
area is also the coal company. A lot of -A lot of the land could also be
the local government budget for public converted to grow blackberries,
things might depend on getting tax hazelnuts and other plants that allow
money to function farm animals to live there

Disadvantages Disadvantages

Over the last 10 years, 100,000 coal Coal mining also produces toxic waste
mining jobs have been lost across the when it is being purified. It creates
nation wastewater. In 2014, a pipe carrying
these water broke and 10,000 gallons
Accidents can cost millions of dollars. of these wastewater and leaked into the
For example, the Elk River incident Elk River. Water Supply for Charleston
caused a $61 million dollars economic became toxic for 300,000 people
loss

A lot of the coal in West Virginia is from

surface mining. This means that all the
plant's life is eradicated in order to
 Because of the air pollution that is breakdown the mountain top. 1 meter
caused when mining and burning coal. of coal =10 meters of rock which are
A Yale University reports that the disposed of in the nearby rivers. This
“health impacts of air pollution from impacts the area as some elements
coal-fired power plants cost $187 (such as rock-derived salt) in the rocks
billion”’ could be harmful for freshwater fishes

Part 2: Chosen resource

What is your chosen renewable resource (be specific): Wind Power

Why is your country suitable for that type of renewable source of energy? Focus on
a specific area. For example, if they were to build a dam for Hydropower, where in
the country should they build it? Explain in a short paragraph.

According to the US Energy Information Administration website, the ideal

places to build wind turbines is in a place where the wind is blowing at least 13
miles per hour(mph). (EIA) In addition to that, the best places to build them are
“mountain gaps that funnel and intensify the wind.” West Virginia could be a very
suitable place because of the average wind speed, which ranges between 15 mph
to 23 mph, as well as the terrain that West Virginia is mostly comprised of. West
Virginia is located in the Appalachian Mountains Range, which means that the
entire state is mostly made up of mountainous areas. (USA.com) This, in turn,
would provide a lot of potentials for companies or the government to build wind
turbines that could provide energy to the people who live nearby. Another benefit of
the place is that the state rarely experiences hurricanes and tornadoes force, which
means that the chances of the winds becoming too strong and destroying the
turbines are quite low (City-Data).

What would be the expected direct cost per KWH if the country uses your chosen
type of resource? 8 cents (2019) 13 (2008) per KWH
What externalities might they face if they do build the infrastructure (system)
needed for your chosen type of renewable source of energy?
 Economic Externalities Environmental Externalities

Advantages Advantages
It creates a lot of skilled jobs such as
engineers and technicians for the people There are no waste products that are
that might lose their jobs if the coal difficult to clean up when the wind turbines
industry is shut down. Engineering job are generating power/electricity
($97,000) can pay almost double of what
a coal miner makes ($51,0000) but wind Lands that are already in use as farms and
technicians (repair workers) make around ranches for agricultural products
the same amount (animals/vegetables) can also have wind
turbines installed in them, so the land
serves two purposes instead of one.
Wind power employs just over 100,000
people across the US with a projected
future growth of 5000 jobs in the next
years

Disadvantages Disadvantages

Cost to start a wind power farm could be -The transmissions lines (used to deliver
very expensive as each commercial electricity) that are laid down between the
turbines would cost 1.2 million to buy in wind farm and the cities/areas that it
addition to the transportation fees and delivers the electricity could be destroyed
other fees. Needs a lot of government by unforeseen circumstances. When the
subsidies to start up (Profitable Ventures) wirings are exposed, it could start a fire.

-For the better-paying jobs, it might be -There have been cases where wind
hard to workers from the coal mining to turbines disturb animals, especially those
transition because a lot of jobs require that rely on sonar because of the sound it
education from community colleges (1-2 creates and birds have been known to be
years) or bachelors (4 years of education) killed by them
or even grad school to get. Some -Could be bad for certain types of bats
workers, especially those with families, in West Virginia because there are two
cannot afford a better education or to species of endangered bats in the area
move to a place where the jobs are being
created

Criterion D:
Compare the total cost (direct cost+externalities), which source of energy is a
better option for your chosen country? Why? Explain your answer. (TEPAC/PEEC
format)
Cost-benefit Analysis
Short term
(point)In the short term, it seems that coal is more economically beneficial for
various reasons. (Example)The first is that the direct cost of electricity is almost
14% cheaper than the power generated by wind. (Explanation of why it is
important) This is important because West Virginia's poverty level is one of the
highest in the country. If the state does switch over to wind power, a lot of families
who are poor may suddenly find it harder to pay their electricity bills as it will
increase 14% or more, especially at the beginning of the transition. This increase in
cost could impact a total of 336,000 people living in poverty there. Hence, changing
to wind power could be especially bad for people who are already living in poverty.
(point/Topic Sentence) In addition to that, a lot of the smaller communities
in West Virginia rely on coal as their main source of income. (Example) For
example, in places like Thurmond and Lindytown, coal companies are the primary
employers and a lot of the taxes that pay for public services come from the
companies. (Explanation/Analysis) If the state does switch over fully to wind power,
these small communities might not exist anymore since it would not be able to
survive without the money from coal unless they are lucky enough to be near a
potential wind farm site. There would be nothing to replace the money from the
coal companies, so people who previously had a stable coal mining job would
become unemployed. (Conclusion) Thus, a lot of small communities all over the
state could be economically wiped out and a negative externality of changing to
wind power would be rising unemployment in one of the country’s poorest areas.

Long term
In the long term, wind power could be seen as a better alternative for two
reasons. (point) The first reason why wind energy is better is that the coal industry
is getting weaker. (Example) Over the past year, only 2000 new jobs were created
compared to 5000 jobs for wind power. In addition to that, over 100,000 jobs have
been lost in the coal industry in the past 10 years, while in 2017 just over 100,000
people are now employed by the wind power industry. (explanation) The patterns
are clear that the jobs in the coal industry are not growing as quickly as the wind
energy industry. People are now more aware of climate change consequences and
they want more renewable energy. People do not want coal any longer so the coal
industry is slowly dying. The only downside about wind in terms of job creation is
that, the people who lost their jobs in coal mining might find it difficult to transfer to
a wind power job because of the education cost.
Another reason why wind power is financially better is that it has a much cheaper
indirect cost. The cost of cleaning up the environment and the healthcare cost,
because of the coal’s waste product, is in the billions. For example, 187 billion
dollars was spent on healthcare costs across the US and at least 61 million dollars
was lost in Charlotte when the waste polluted a nearby river. Since creating air
pollution is an unavoidable part of burning coal and the waste must be produced,
these costs would be non-stop. In comparison, the greatest negative externality for
wind is the start-up cost. While the cost to create a wind farm is very large, it is only
negative for a short time as eventually it would even out when the government and
people would no longer have to pay so much money for healthcare reasons or to
clean up the environment.

Conclusion
Overall, coal would be a suitable choice if we are looking at the short term because
the direct cost is cheaper and a lot of communities are dependent on it. However,
in the long term, it is not sustainable because of the indirect costs are so much
greater than wind power. If the state of West Virginia does switch over to wind
power, it would cost them a lot of money at first and it would increase the number
of unemployed people. Nevertheless, if properly managed, the government could
use the money saved from not fixing environmental disasters or healthcare cost to
help people become educated and to become wind technicians. In addition, it
would be a lot better for the environment as mountains would no longer be stripped
of plant life to look for coal. Therefore, I believe the cost of switching over to wind in
the short term would not outweigh the long term benefits of using wind power.

(n.d.). Coal Costs U.S. $500 Billion In 'Hidden' Costs Annually, Study Says.
Retrieved from
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/coal-costs-us-half-trillion-annually-in-hidden-costs-stud
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