Earlier this week, the US National Research Council (NRC) released an interesting and wide-ranging report that engaged in the thankless task of attempting to put a figure on the "hidden costs" of energy use.

In the end the researchers plumped for an annual cost in the US alone of $120bn (£73bn) in 2005, primarily from the health damage caused by pollutants released by power plants and vehicles, such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and particulate matter.

Significantly, the researchers analysed damages arising from the energy sector's contribution to climate change, degradation to ecosystems, the risk to national security posed by relying on oil imports, and the effects of other air pollutants such as mercury. But they did not attempt to put a monetary value on these damages; perhaps they were fearful that monetising those costs would totally obliterate the US economy, albeit on a theoretical level.

Source: Business Green

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