In order to compare solar-hydrogen and the most used fossil fuels, the evaluation of the ââ?¬Å?externalââ?¬Â costs related to their use is\nrequired. These costs involve the environmental damage produced by the combustion reactions, the health problems caused by air\npollution, the damage to land from fuel mining, and the environmental degradation linked to the global warming, the acid rains,\nand the water pollution. For each fuel, the global cost is determined as sum of the market price and of the correspondent external\ncosts. In order to obtain a quantitative comparison, the quality of the different combustion reactions and the efficiency of the\ntechnologies employed in the specific application sector have to be considered adequately. At this purpose, an entropic index that\nconsiders the degree of irreversibility produced during the combustion process and the degradation of surroundings is introduced.\nAdditionally, an environmental index that measures the pollutants released during the combustions is proposed.The combination\nof these indexes and the efficiency of the several technologies employed in four energy sectors have allowed the evaluation of the\ntotal costs, highlighting an economic scenario from which the real advantages concerning the exploitation of different energy carrier\nare determined.
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