Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Photo DOE
The Department of Energy sprayed out more money from the stimulus bill fire hose today, when DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced that $750 million would be made available to fund loan guarantees that would support up to $8 billion in lending for wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects.
Chu made the announcement at a White House Clean Energy Forum for business leaders that attracted representatives of utilities, energy technology companies, consultants, venture capitalists, and engineering firms from 30 states, including the Northwest.
Washington companies at the White House chin-wag included Seattle-based McKinstry, which does efficiency upgrades in commercial buildings; solar developer Infinia Corp., based in the Tri Cities, and Home Performance Washington, a trade association of companies selling residential energy efficiency services.
Chu also said that DOE, a byword for slow-moving bureaucracy, would streamline processing of loan guarantees. The speedup plan calls for borrowers to apply for money directly to lenders, which then would seek guarantees from DOE.
At the forum, federal officials warned that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in developing clean energy technologies, including batteries and power electronics. China, for example, plans to boost its wind energy capacity to 100,000 megawatts by 2020. U.S. wind energy capacity today is 29,440 megawatts, with 5,866 additional megawatts under construction.
Comments
At first glance, the Department of Energy’s proposal to spend $750 million on alternative energy sources seems like a win for environmentalists. It isn’t.
It is dangerous to assume that alternative energy is what’s needed to cure our energy troubles – that the way to solve our energy production problems is to produce more energy. As media outlets and political pundits narrow their visions to alternative energy technologies, we are not only fooled into overlooking far more promising solutions but also charmed into ignoring the simple fact that alternative energy technologies themselves generate greenhouse gas emissions, invite side effects and limitations of their own, and furthermore stimulate overall demand for energy.
Examiner contributor Ozzie Zehner is an energy consultant www.zehnerstudio.com and the Executive Director of www.imagitrends.com, a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Spray money is very appropriate term. The Feds have cut funding to small inventors while throwing millions at the big boys. One inventive green process languishes for lack of interest, powersmithgroup.com
Ozzie,
There are no panaceas out there and it almost sounds as though you're advocating either the status quo or an ideal solution. More energy isn't the solution because people will just consume more.
Nuclear fission is probably the greenest thing out there today. Before someone chastises the environmental movement for being anti-nuclear, allow me to suggest a little reading.
You may come away with a different view of nuclear power and what it means to be green, regardless of where you stand on Climate Change.
Dr. David MacKay
David J.C. MacKay. Sustainable Energy - without the hot air.
UIT Cambridge, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9544529-3-3.
Available free online from www.withouthotair.com
Chapter 24, Nuclear?
www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c24/page_161.shtml
Dr. James Lovelock
"Nuclear power is the only green solution"
www.jameslovelock.org/page11.html
"The Revenge of Gaia"
amazon.com/o/ASIN/0465041698
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