Steven Chu Proposes 22 Percent More for Solar Research
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:44:14 AM - by Danny Vo
When Secretary of Energy Steven Chu addressed a group of energy and policy executives at CERAWeek 2010, March 8-12 in Houston, Texas, he said that he supported a 22-percent increase in solar research.
The event was hosted by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy advisory and consulting company formed by the 2004 acquisition of Cambridge by IHS Energy and led by economist Daniel Yergin. Yergin is the energy expert who recently said that the threat of Peak Oil would be neutralized by the current economic downturn and increased energy efficiencies at all levels and in all sectors.
The typical attendees at CERAWeek 2010, oil and gas company executives with a smattering of utility company executives, were greeted by a video clip from Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Clinton’s message, which focused on renewable energy with fossil fuels as a backup, reinforced Chu’s delivery.
Bottom line; the current administration is taking a hard line on renewables, with President Barack Obama issuing a three-year moratorium on offshore drilling. The message; go on a fossil-fuel diet, even if it does stunt an embryonic economic recovery.
The execs were not happy, with one writer describing the alternative energy subsidy in America as the classic definition of insanity; repeating an action in hopes that the outcome will be different. The phrase “economic suicide” was also heard in context with Chu’s proposal.
For those who thought that energy companies like AEP, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell (to name a few) were finally beginning to see the light, judging by their “green” commercials on television, the outright hostility shocking. The fact that Chu also proposed 53-percent more funding for wind energy research, and did so unabashedly, was not redeemed by his admission that oil “will be with us for decades, and gas can serve to transition to other fuels”.
The true tenor of the meeting was set by the presence of keynote speaker Khalid Al-Falih, President and Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Aramco. However, this year, somewhat “green” energy executives (Iberdrola’s del Valle, Microsoft Environmental’s Bernard) seemed to have more than the usual token representation.
As in every war, the game of capture the flag proceeds apace. The carbon economists hold the most territory, but renewable energy guerillas are claiming the high ground. When ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva argues that natural gas is more than a “bridge” fuel, and some utility executives admit they’ve been caught with their pants down vis a vis “smart” grid technology, Chu reportedly smiles and suggests carbon-overweight combatants may just have to “grin and bear it”.
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