An article published in the September 2011 edition of Nature Climate Change determines the cost of renewable energy will not become more competitive as fossil fuel prices rise, because fossil fuels account for large portions of the cost to manufacture, transport, and mine materials for renewable sources. Over the entire life-cycle of energy production from these renewable sources, significant portions were originally derived from fossil fuels:
Wind: 34% of life-cycle energy production from fossil fuels used in manufacturing
Solar: 33%
Ethanol:
100%
The article admits that in most life cycle analyses of renewable energy sources, the inconvenient truth of significant use of fossil fuels is omitted from the analyses.
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