Concepts of sustainable energy

Abstract

Thanks to technological advancements, the profitably useable fossil energy deposits are increasing, and their exploitation requires more and more energy investment. In developed countries, the efficiency increase driven by competition decreases the per unit energy need, however, this effect cannot compensate for the increasing energy demand of the world. The use of renewable energy resources in not only vital for the three pillars of sustainability but for supply security, too, even though their competitiveness is still lower than that of fossil energy resources. The exploitation of renewable energy resources involves higher investment costs and lower maintenance costs per unit. Due to extra costs deriving from long transportation routes, lower maintenance costs are not necessarily true for conditionally renewable energy resources. This significantly influences environmental sustainability, too. The exploitation of solar and wind energy are the fields where considerable improvement can be expected due to the increasing efficiency and low maintenance costs. However, these favourable effects can also be achieved by other energetic investments; therefore an objective comparison of options is required. The analysis of the retail price structure of electricity reveals that electricity prices primarily depend on the energy resources used and the technology; however, final prices are to an even greater extent influenced by tax and fee elements. Keywords: Renewable energy sources, sustainability, energy prices, competitiveness, energy efficiency, technological development, energy structure