Comparison Methodology
Energy Options
Please note all comparison numbers are relative to each other. In other words we crafted the other sections of our evaluation first, including the pros and cons, and then put all energy sources side by side to assign comparison weights for each category. To be sure these numbers are subjective, but care was taken to be as accurate as possible. A scale of 1-10 was used to denote room for improvement and points of similarity as opposed to numerically ranking the sources on each category. Notes on specific categories follow:
Cost of Increased Use: Includes both acquiring the source and it's cost to operate;
Environmental Impact: Takes into account the harvesting of sources, but not the environmental impact of the construction of the assets required to produce the energy. Does include the environmental impact of ongoing operations;
National Security: Includes the threat of terrorist activity as well as the deployment of our military to secure or supply protection for the transport of a given source;>
Implementation: Generally a measure of how long it would take to bring the source to market under today's economic conditions;
Political Toxicity: A measure of the political climate surrounding the use of the source, particularly for sources that require government mandates, incentives, or regulations to be realized.
Back to Energy Source Comparisons
Policy Options
Please note all comparison numbers are relative to each other. In other words we crafted the other sections of our evaluation first, including the pros and cons, and then put all energy sources side by side to assign comparison weights for each category. To be sure these numbers are subjective, but care was taken to be as accurate as possible. A scale of 1-10 was used to denote room for improvement and points of similarity as opposed to numerically ranking the sources on each category. Notes on specific categories follow:
Cost of Implementation: This is a comparison of the cost to government coffers. Some policies are expensive and others have no cost;
Environmental Impact: Assesses the strength of each policy in its ability to achieve a positive effect upon the environment. All of the policies are geared to promoting energy use that is beneficial to the environment (a currently unaccounted for cost). Some are more extensive than others;
Consumption of Foreign Energy: Any policy that reduces importation of energy can increase US domestic security. Some of the policies change our sources of energy and others have no effect upon them;
Implementation: A comparison of how difficult each policy is to put into practice. Some are already in practice and others are purely theoretical;
Political Toxicity: A measure of the political climate surrounding the favorability of the policy. This is an assessment of its viability given the current power structure of citizen voters, politicians willingness to put forth the policy, and industry lobby.
