4 ms·
You generally leave the baseload (coal + nuclear) on, and shut down "peaking" capacity, which is, at least in the US, mainly natural gas. Coal is more expensive
by tvladeck 14y ago
You generally leave the baseload (coal + nuclear) on, and shut down "peaking" capacity, which is, at least in the US, mainly natural gas. Coal is more expensive to build, more expensive to turn on, and cheaper to operate. Nat Gas is cheaper to build, cheaper to turn on, and more expensive to operate
- rayiner 14y agoI know you're speaking from the power plant's perspective, but factoring in externalities, natural gas is cheaper to operate than coal. Nuclear is really cheaper. Wind is about the same as coal.
- morsch 14y agoAll of the things you state as facts are subject to long-running debates.
- rayiner 14y agoNot really. There are debates about his much, but with regard to coal specifically, it's so bad you can ignore things like global warming entirely and it still comes out more expensive.
- tvladeck 14y agooh, absolutely - this doesn't consider the social cost of carbon, or even the social cost (health costs) of particulate emissions.