Ted,
Yes, but in the beginning everything new will be expensive. Someone has to figure out what will be cheapest when mass produced and the one that makes the most sense from a long term prospective, and then guide it to that end. The entity best equipped to achieve that goal is the gov't.
The government can certainly help to get things moving quicker. A good example was in area of reviving nuclear power. I think the government promised that first x number of new projects will get some government guarantees for loans. Value of these guarantees made sense for the power companies to speed up their plans to get them.
Similar help could be given to promising R&D and commercialization projects, and also awards, like the one Gingrich suggested, for reaching certain technology level.
In area of photovoltaic cells, it could be for a R&D into technologies that achieve certain level of efficiency within some cost limit, then further, for building a plant that can mass produce them.
But I see the role of the government only in start up and acceleration, not really in long term corporate welfare.
At some, not too distant point, market will need to decide what is viable.
As far as replacing the bulk of oil consumption and imports, cheap electric power is a pre-requisite. It will help plug in electric cars get off the ground. Eventually, their range extending gasoline engine can be replaced with hydrogen powered fuel cells. And hydrogen can turn into a storage medium for times when excess power is available in the grid, to be sold to motorists instead of gasoline.
Joe |
