THE IMPACT OF ENERGY ECONOMICS ON ELECTRICITY SUPPLY-AND-DEMAND

World statistics over the past 30 years confirm the trend to an increasing share for electricity in the energy market. The main question for the future is how the market shares of the major fossil and non-fossil energy sources will develop. Published generation cost figures for plant for current construction show the extent to which choice depends on local or national characteristics and policies. In the longer term, two major factors will be critical: firstly the development of more complete environmental regulatory procedures and assessments of the environmental costs associated with different energy sources; and secondly the increasingly widespread move to introduce greater competition and private sector disciplines into energy supply. The particular controversy surrounding the economics of nuclear energy is discussed, and it is proposed that commercial competitive market disciplines which apply to other forms of energy supply should also apply to nuclear energy. The long-term prospects for the different energy sources are then discussed in the context of the projections of energy supply and demand, and of carbon dioxide emissions, recently prepared in the course of the work of the World Energy Commission's work on world energy up to the year 2020.