The Bumpy Pathway to an Energy Breakthrough
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is one of the founders and, one might say, the lion of Congress's peak oil caucus, a group of lawmakers concerned about the world's oil supply running out. With leonine intensity, the Maryland Republican took on the Bush administration on its funding priorities for energy research and development.
"Why are we interested in hydrogen?" Bartlett pounced, at a contentious budget hearing by the House Committee on Science and Technology's subcommittee on energy and environment.
"Hydrogen, like fusion, represents the holy grail out there," responded Steve Isakowitz, chief financial officer of the Department of Energy. It could hold the keys to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, he said.
"How is it going to do that, since hydrogen is not an energy source?" Bartlett shot back. "We will always use more energy to make hydrogen than we get out of it."
Isakowitz said it mattered how you produced hydrogen, which is why the administration believed in the development of nuclear power to produce hydrogen.
This solution didn't satisfy Bartlett.
"Hydrogen is not an energy source," he said. "It is not a silver bullet. It will not solve our problem. There's a lot of irrational exuberance in this area."
We all agree that we need technological breakthroughs on energy, but we disagree deeply on how to spend limited money to get there.
The acrimony is so great that two Department of Energy under secretaries were no-shows at the subcommittee's session, which should have been a routine budget hearing. C. H. "Bud" Albright, under secretary for energy, and Ray Orbach, under secretary for science, sent word they wouldn't appear because of protocol.
They didn't want to sit on the same panel as a representative of the Government Accountability Office, which has been asked by Congress to investigate the department's slashing of the FutureGen clean coal demonstration project in Matoon, Ill. Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, called the under secretaries' decision not to appear "highly offensive." He added: "I personally believe there are other motives why they are not here, including to avoid questions on some of the items in this budget," including the decision to eliminate FutureGen.
As it was, Isakowitz absorbed the flak for the department's decision to withdraw after costs had doubled to $1.8 billion, 70 percent of which would have been paid by taxpayers. "We remain committed to the goals of FutureGen," he said. "That having been said, the department is often faced with the situation that although it's committed to a goal, it must also watch out for the taxpayer."
Tags: Department of Energy | Congress | energy policy | energy
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Breakthrough in Hydrogen Technology
I find Rep. Bartletts views on hydrogen quite amusing. We at Genesys, LLC have just received a United States patent on a revolutionary technology that converts water into hydrogen. The energy we get is from geothermal or solar steam. We can even use abandoned oil wells to produce hydrogen. We have a working prototype and have proven that a self contained source can be used to produce a useful fuel. Our technology does not compete with food production, or destroy rainforests to make biofuels, or depend on the weather for wind energy. Our web site, www.genesys-hydrogen.com has a video and technical papers for people to understand this technology. The video is also available on YouTube.
Energy
Bartlett is correct in that a more practical immediate aproach is needed.
Such as Electric tractors or even better animal traction and more farmers millions more.
Hydrogen
It will only be possible to produce hydrogen in the required amounts if scientists all over the world succeed in creating high temperature nuclear reactors that run on thorium or uranium 238. South Africa, China and India are following different paths to achieve that goal. South Africa and China by focusing on the development of the Pebble Bed Reactor and India by focusing on thorium as reactor fuel. The hydrogen kan be transformed to the hydrogen rich ammonia which can be stored in the Danish developed hydrogen pill. This pill is virtually without any bad odeur and cannot burn. The pill can release its hydrogene i a sofc fuel cell without polluting the cell with carbon. Difficult but not quite impossible.
Genesys patent
What is the patent number? If it is granted, it will be in the public database. I wouldn't mind taking a look at it.
Money
There is a myth that technological developments needed to solve our energy crisis can be created with a budget. If this is so, why don't we just sink billions into perpetual motion machines and sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labour.
RE: Breakthrough in Hydrogen Technology
Yeah, right. First it was cold fusion, now it's cold hydrogen from water. B.S.!
Efficiency
Morgantown's Personal Rapid Transit was built after the 1973 Oil Embargo to demonstrate how to become oil-independent. It has delivered 110 million injury-free passenger miles. PB-244854 was the blueprint created at the time for oil-independent transport.
Urban oil-based transport is less than 4% efficient. Modernizing Morgantown' PRT can increase efficiency from 4% to 70%. Visit JPods.com and Taxi2000.com for examples.
Hydrogen producing bacteria
"Researchers at Penn State University say they've developed a way to use bacteria to extract hydrogen from almost any biodegradable organic substance, from grass clippings to wastewater." -
http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2007/11/hydrogen_bacteria
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Alternative energies are a myth
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is right. A review of scientific and government studies (General Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service, National Academy of Sciences etc.) reveals that no alternatives can replace oil, natural gas, and coal, and all of these sources are in short supply and running out; see: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html
Mar 05, 2008 18:41:38 PM [permalink] [report comment]