Chu: Carbon Pricing Needed to Jump Start Clean Tech
.jpg "Energy Secretary Steven Chu")
Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the U.S. clean energy sector is stalled without a price on carbon, while the rest of the world -- especially China -- surges ahead.
Speaking to the National League of Cities today in Washington, Chu said the US led the world in photovoltaic technology 15 years ago, capturing 44 percent of world market share. Now, the U.S. captures less than 10 percent of the world PV market, Chu said.
Other areas where the U.S. used to lead include nuclear power, energy transmission and transmission equipment.
China is now leading the world in photovoltaics and is well on its way to capturing the world's energy transmission and transmission equipment market, he said.
China invests $9 billion a month in electricity transmission and distribution and efficiency. It's building 21 nuclear reactors, and is well underway to building high-efficiency coal plants, Chu added.
The Chinese government is pushing the development ahead while the U.S. Congress, by not passing an energy bill with a price on carbon, is thwarting clean technology development here, he said. Chu asserted that only a price on carbon will convince investors that technology would thrive.
The US government has already made an $80 billion down payment, through the stimulus and regular appropriations, toward a clean energy economy, he said. The government has also authorized a 30 percent tax credit for major clean energy manufacturing projects.
Cardinal Fastener, a Bedford Heights-Ohio company that makes bolts for wind turbines, capitalized on that, Chu said.
But the clean energy sector needs private funds, and the private sector needs to see a price on carbon, Chu said.
The Secretary called on Congress to act soon. Last summer, the House passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, but the Senate has yet to act.
Chu said, as it looks now, the US will be the "last country to move," to develop a clean energy sector.
About this story
Related Keywords: Politics, Transmission (Electric Grid), Agencies (Politics), Industry (Wind), Industry (Solar), Industry (Nuclear), International (Politics), Wind, Solar, Nuclear, Electric Grid, Dipka Bhambhani, Clean Skies News, Cardinal Fastener, China, Clean Energy, clean technology, electricity transmission, nuclear, photovoltaic, solar PV, Steven Chu, stimulus, transmission equipment
Source:
Clean Skies News
Now on Clean Skies
Top Stories
CS Sunday: Water Power and Green Police
28:27 | 09/05/10
Cop Cars Go Green
02:53 | 09/09/10
Iceland is Rich with Renewables
07:11 | 09/09/10Related Items
Rivers Provide "Next Wave" of Energy
Underwater turbine technology could mean electricity for rural areas.
- 02:45
- 09/09/10
Danish Island "CO2 Negative"
Samso Island is 100 percent carbon neutral and on the cutting edge of renewable technology.
- 05:32
- 08/16/10
Summer Heat Waves Test Power Generation
Demand can create stressful situations for dispatch centers.
- 04:38
- 08/10/10
Working to Make Green Jobs Work for Economy
A growing alternative energy economy is putting Americans to work, but will those jobs stick around?
- 05:41
- 08/02/10
Pricing up the cost of fossil
Pricing up the cost of fossil fuels, which currently drive 85% of the economic activity in America, with new fees and taxes so as to make currently marginal and extremely narrow renewable energy sectors economically viable will come at significant cost to the economy. America's industry and jobs exist on the underlying support of access to cheap and abundant energy. Making energy more costly and less available will cause further loss of American jobs and depress the economy.
To lift America out of its current economic problems you need to propose new sources of energy that can be produced at a cost less than the fossil fuels you are trying to replace.
you need to hire the best employees to overcome the wastage.
http://www.fabricarehouse.com/
Does China use a price on
Does China use a price on carbon to stimulate its green technology?
No they do not.
Pricing up the cost of fossil fuels, which currently drive 85% of the economic activity in America, with new fees and taxes so as to make currently marginal and extremely narrow renewable energy sectors economically viable will come at significant cost to the economy. America's industry and jobs exist on the underlying support of access to cheap and abundant energy. Making energy more costly and less available will cause further loss of American jobs and depress the economy.
To lift America out of its current economic problems you need to propose new sources of energy that can be produced at a cost less than the fossil fuels you are trying to replace. The best candidate to do this is improved forms of nuclear power based on use of Thorium nuclear fuel in less nuclear waste generating Generation-4 Molten Salt Reactors [1].
You can sustainably create jobs and keep America competitive by driving down the cost of energy and reducing the costs for all American manufacturing. Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars are borrowed funds that will all be completely spent in a few short years. Development of new technology that actually reduces the cost of electricity to a point below the cost of burning coal will provide an economic incentive for taking measures that safeguard the climate. Nuclear energy, particularly in improved forms that use Thorium fuel in complementary Molten Salt Reactors, can produce electrical power at a cost less than coal [2]. Why not give the Labs a clear signal to develop MORE clean non-GHG producing nuclear energy that will preserve American quality of life?
[1] Thorium Molten Salt Reactors are good science. Dr. Edward Teller, the founding director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, wrote his final paper a month before his death on the subject of the advantages of Thorium Molten Salt Reactors.
http://www.geocities.com/rmoir2003/moir_teller.pdf
[2] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory lead nuclear engineer, Dr. Ralph Moir, has studied the capital and operating costs of Molten Salt Reactors and has determined that the cost of energy from Molten Salt Reactors is less than the costs of energy from coal. Dr. Moir’s calculations indicate that cost of electricity for Molten Salt Reactors is 3.8 cents/KW-hour while the cost of electricity from coal is 4.2 cents/KW-hour.
http://www.geocities.com/rmoir2003/coe_10_2_2001.pdf