http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/09/chu-says-hell-stop-
push-to-cut-hydrogen-car-funding-will-work-with-lawmakers.html
http://tinyurl.com/yevy8bu
Chu Says He'll Stop Push to Cut Hydrogen-Car Funding, Will Work With
Lawmakers
"Energy Secretary Steven Chu will no longer seek to kill Energy
Department research and development of hydrogen-powered cars, a bid
Congress has rebuffed, and instead will work with lawmakers to ensure
the money is "invested wisely," he said today."
"The fiscal 2010 spending bills approved in the House and Senate
would continue funding for the programs. "Given the reality of that,
I think it would be foolish if I next year said, 'No, I'm still going
to insist.' They are going to stick it back again," Chu told the
subscription service E&E News."
"'We will do the best we can to make sure the funds are invested
wisely,' Chu said."
What are you going to do when your hands are tied?
It is incredible that ten year or more efforts are being focused on
hydrogen cars and hydrogen homes instead of the really promising more
quickly and incrementally had large solar systems - gigawatt or
larger systems.
Nocera's company also is engaged in a ten year program to bring
hydrogen storage systems into the home.
http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10002176/hydrogen-the-dream-fuel-
shifts-from-cars-to-houses/
"Hydrogen, the Dream Fuel, Shifts From Cars to Houses"
"Now, aside from a few lingering efforts by major car companies to
draw attention to hydrogen fuel cells, it’s rare to hear much about
it. But wait — enter the hydrogen-powered house:"
"The prognosis doesn’t look as good for homes that are already
connected. All the equipment to create and store hydrogen will be
expensive by itself, but as the article on the FSU project notes, the
amount of solar paneling required also drastically increases — in
this case, to 6.9 kilowatts, which is three or more times larger than
the average solar installation."
"The problem is that solar only peaks for a few hours a day, and
during that peak, the conversion to hydrogen won’t even approach
perfect efficiency; a good portion of the energy will be lost, so
much more solar paneling is needed than the amount required to power
the home for a few hours. For reference, by the way, the solar
paneling alone could cost well over $100,000 (without subsidies) if
installed today."
The big prize, a TW solar system, is clearly the one to chase. Solar
hydrogen production for load smoothing, fertilizer production,
methane production, and other petrochemical processing is clearly the
low hanging fruit. It can be operated, grown, slowly enhanced, by
teams of engineers, and teams of companies. It doesn't have to be
public ready, idiot proof, to go into production. A TW solar complex
can be constructed as a blend of production and experimental systems,
and various kinds of solar collection systems and auxiliary systems,
but with huge economies of scale and solid government financing. It
takes leadership to make this happen. It means establishment of a
vast desert area with little red tape. It means new communities and
huge job creation. It ultimately means a large positive changes in
balance of trade, GDP, and productivity. This is the kind of
Manhattan style energy project that is technically justified and
needed NOW.
I think this is the last thing many lobbyists would want to see. The
last thing vested interests want to see is something that might
actually work. Just as with a government health care option, global
warming remedies, and run amuck financial system controls, if you
can't kill it, then wound it as much as possible, tie it up, and make
it as ineffective as possible. Create smoke and debate where there
should be none, in order to confuse the ignorant. Divert resources
and attention to *anything* but the most effective options. All
these strategies have been and will continue to be employed for
maintaining the status quo.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
