We have prior experience in this.
- Consumers
and planners are often unsure of the answers, or sometimes of the issues
themselves. Do solar photovoltaics pay back more than the energy inputs
for making, installing, and maintaining panels and circuitry? (Answer: nowadays, yes; 10-fold over
life of 25 y; not so in the past.
The quantitative answer also depends upon geographic location, of
course, but also whether the installation is centralized or at point of
use) Similarly, is nuclear power
nearly carbon neutral? (Not nearly
as close as promoted; CO2 emissions in producing steel and
especially concrete are quite large; carbon cost loosely tracks economic
cost for energy technologies, and nuclear capital costs are very
large)
- Costs
and carbon emissions can be resolved as capital (in manufacture and
installation), operational (inputs), and maintenance. One of more of these categories is
often ignored, sometimes with political consent. Full disclosure will better serve
citizens, investors, and other stakeholders.
- One
may extend the concept to other impacts.
For example, geothermal power in many regions does not include
reinjection of water. Discharge
water has loads of salts and moderately toxic compounds, disposed of with
various levels of impact.
- One
likely service that we could offer is a decision support system, or
modules to go into same. We would
point out items that are important for economic decisions, regulatory
needs (with feedback to costs), etc.