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What’s The Cost Of Low-Carbon Energy?

What’s The Cost Of Low-Carbon Energy?
SubjectToClimate

Written By Teacher: Elizabeth Ward

My name is Elizabeth Ward. I am a former Early Childhood, Elementary, and English as a Foreign Language educator. I have taught third grade Science and Social Studies as well as Kindergarten in both urban and rural Oklahoma public schools. I taught online EFL to students of all ages in China for four years. I also have experience in curriculum development and content design for teachers in the physical and digital classroom. As a former teacher I have a passion for supporting teachers and making their jobs easier. I currently live in the greater Houston area with my husband and four dogs. 

Transitioning to lower-carbon energy sources in our homes can seem costly, but students need to understand the long-term savings and environmental benefits. Exploring the financial side of this switch helps highlight the balance between initial investment and future sustainability. This topic invites students to think critically about energy choices, costs, and how individuals can contribute to larger climate solutions. Using resources like cost breakdowns, incentives, and real-world case studies can help make the topic more relatable and actionable. Invite students to think about energy saving with these resources; Math Lesson: Illumination and Energy Efficiency and Energy Efficiency Audit.

MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.

If you own your own home and car, you might be looking for big ways to lower your carbon footprint. Solar panels and electric vehicles are two of the most popular, but these are large pieces of high-tech hardware that might seem unaffordable at first glance. But in fact, investments like these could potentially save you money in the long run, says Dr. Apurba Sakti, a research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative who studies economic and technological aspects of energy storage systems. It’s important to “really just look at your options and see what the actual costs would be for making the switch.”

First, let’s talk about buying clean power directly from the electric grid. Many electric utilities let their customers choose to buy low-carbon electricity from renewable energy sources, often marketed as “green power.” Depending on where you live, this can be quite cheap: in 2016, the average added cost was about $16.25 a month to power an average-sized home. Even if your utility doesn’t give you that option, you can buy “renewable energy certificates” that fund the building of new solar farms and wind turbines.

But these options will always cost at least a little more than your normal electricity bill. Remember, utilities are already trying to make power as cheaply as possible: if adding more solar or wind is cheaper than your normal energy mix, your utility will make those investments on its own. So if you want to lower your carbon footprint while also lowering your electric bill, you may need to install solar panels.


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