Duke Energy plans to generate electricity from the methane produced in a Durham landfill.
While the concept is interesting, this brief Associated Press blurb does not address the $64,000 question: At what cost?
Is Duke pursuing this option because it’s cost-efficient? If not, is this simply one way to meet the state’s artificial renewable energy mandate in Senate Bill 3?
If the answer to the second question is “yes,” how much more costly is this form of electricity than the electricity generated by more traditional sources? What’s the potential impact of methane-produced electricity on your power bill?
I don’t know the facts of this case, so I will not prejudge it as inefficient. But I will keep in mind Thomas Sowell’s warning in Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays:
Much of the self-righteous nonsense that abounds on so many subjects cannot stand up to three questions: (1) Compared to what? (2) At what cost? and (3) What are the hard facts?
