Surprise: GOP Cuts Spending for Renewable Energy, Invests in Fossil Fuel Research. For More on This…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Here’s something of such little note, I won’t blame you for skipping it altogether: The Republican-dominated House of Representatives has voted to cut funding for wind and efficiency in half, while expanding research into fossil fuels.
Bless their hearts, the Democrats object. Saints be praised. Jared Polis (D-CO) believes “We should invest in our future for renewable energy and energy efficiency rather than throwing more money at the past and into nuclear weapons; fossil fuel research is a dead end for America and our economy, for the clean air we need and clean water.”
Jared: You’re a good guy, but you’re swimming upstream in the current political scene.
Craig,
Sometimes it helps to think about a different point of view.
The only thing keeping the US from economic collapse has been the enormous wealth and economic activity produced by the energy boom from North American Gas and Oil technology.
Both Oil, Gas and Coal are major contributors to US exports helping to reduce the disastrous trade imbalance that increases US national debt to unsustainable levels.
On the other hand, heavily subsidized Wind power generates no export income and further adds to US debt, without contributing much economically. (certainly doesn’t increase Federal tax revenues).
Leaving aside environmental issues, it makes more sense to spend taxpayer money on industries assisting immediate economic issues that can boost economic growth than long term investments into loss making technologies that already receive massive taxpayer/consumer assistance.
That’s the problem with many environmental activists, they think only in terms of their own hobby horse, with little regard for immediate economic or political realities.
Fortunately, Jared Polis doesn’t run a business or have responsibility for the US economy, or America would be bankrupt and still dreaming of the utopia to come.
China is wisely investing in both renewables and nuclear power. Interestingly, those who support only renewables point out that China is investing in renewables but fail to point out that it is also investing in nuclear power, both by expanding existing nuclear technology and by doing badly needed research and development to develop better nuclear technologies. For more information, check the following link:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/china-nuclear-power.aspx
Here is a quotation from the link:
“Mainland China has 36 nuclear power reactors in operation, 21 under construction, and more about to start construction.
“Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world’s most advanced, to give a doubling of nuclear capacity to at least 58 GWe by 2020-21, then up to 150 GWe by 2030, and much more by 2050.
“The impetus for increasing nuclear power share in China is increasingly due to air pollution from coal-fired plants.
“China’s policy is to have a closed nuclear fuel cycle.
“China has become largely self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle, but is making full use of western technology while adapting and improving it.
“Relative to the rest of the world, a major strength is the nuclear supply chain.
China’s policy is to ‘go global’ with exporting nuclear technology including heavy components in the supply chain.”
China’s policy to have a closed nuclear fuel cycle means that it opposes discarding used fuel as waste. Unless the world follows China’s example, global warming will never be limited to acceptable levels.
Hi Frank,
Your observation is most welcome ! I feared you may have got lost once Craig stopped sending alerts :).
It’s true the energy hungry PRC is investing heavily in Nuclear as is India. The PRC is also investing in Clean(er) technology for it’s truly massive coal generation building program.
The PRC is retrofitting 2 power plants per week with carbon sequestration technology, while remaining on schedule to complete the last 517 of 812 new coal fired power plants by 2025.
This winter Europe will pressure the US to moderate sanction against Russia, due to the desperate need for Russian Gas while also importing 70 million tones of coal from the US.
Since the Trump administration was elected, coal exports have risen by 67% and are expected to rise by 300% by 2018.
The US balance of trade will benefit enormously from European anti-nuclear policies.
The result of this trade may have consequences for the global environment but it does have benefits for the US economy since not only the trade deficit will diminish, but EU manufacturing will be less competitive.
Frank, you are also quite right when you point out that although the US will be a small winner the big winner from the European anti-nuclear campaign the bigger winner will be Asia, especially the PRC and India.
@Hi Craig
Hi Craig, I tackle this subject from a different perspective from time to time as you are aware, so I hope this short piece is not to far out of sync with your subject in general.
It is becoming inevitably more apparent to many, that history may reflect rather scathingly on how the global renewable energy technologies period 1995 – 2025 was largely ill-conceived and mismanaged through emotional bordering on irrational thinking and decision making, rather than professionally detached scientific and visionary thinking, by most nations. Most certainly reflections by responsible decision makers in the sector in hindsight, about this protracted period of “lost scientific and commercial opportunities” will ruminate widely throughout the global energy technologies and scientific establishments, and no nation will go untouched by this introspection in varying degrees.
What might be the tipping point therefore that weakens the bonds that bind us to the renewable energy paradigm that has been embraced globally with near hysterical fervor at times? Well foremost might be a universal recognition and acceptance that future global clean energy generation imperatives cannot be satisfied by renewable energy technologies. Equally important is that a prosperous and “equal opportunity for all people” world of the future (which is a critical global aspiration) is only possible by affordable access and availability by all peoples to ‘huge energy generation technology’ to power new age energy intensive industries; and economy modernization industrialization technologies and opportunities.
An emerging global ‘push back’ counterbalancing renewable energy technologies is unfolding already; and a lesson we can take from the history of human technological endeavor over several centuries hitherto, is that in general terms there can ultimately only be one winner in any technology type.
A recent article published in the highly regarded South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 19/08/2017 by US correspondent Robert Delaney headed, “Nuclear Renaissance – China is set to make an emphatic statement in clean power generation as it prepares to commission its revolutionary AP1000 reactor in Sanmen”, provides a compelling insight and analysis into the key ingredients of this important subject.
http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107354/china-pips-us-race-start-worlds-most-advanced-nuclear-power-plant
19/08/2017
Lawrence Coomber
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