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A power system with a 95 percent share of renewables has the same or even lower costs than a fossil-based system under most assumptions for future fuel and CO₂ prices.
A coal-based system would only be significantly less expensive if extremely low CO₂ prices are expected in 2050 (20 euros/t). Similarly, a natural gas-based system would only be significantly less expensive if gas prices are low and CO₂ prices are not high (i.e. below 100 euros/t).
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A renewables-based system insulates the economy against volatile commodity prices, as the costs of fossil-based systems heavily depend on fuel and CO₂ price trends.
Variable costs (largely for fuel and CO₂) account for 30 to 67 percent of the total costs of the fossil-based systems. By contrast, variable costs represent just 5 percent of costs in the renewables-based systems.
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A power system with a 95 percent share of renewables reduces CO₂ emissions by 96 percent their 1990 levels at CO₂ abatement costs of about 50 euros/t.
A renewables based energy transition can thus be considered efficient climate policy, as CO₂ damage costs are estimated a lot higher (80 euros/t over the short-term, and at 145 to 260 euros/t over the long term).
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