REPORT: Energy Secretary Chu - "I would put every cent into electric cars"
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has a penchant for making some straightforward statements about energy policy. He's said that electric vehicles are inevitable, for example, and that all American cars should be E85-capable. Recently, he apparently said that "if it were up to me, I would put every cent into electric cars." This quote, which was relayed by unnamed alternative energy developers who were at a recent meeting on alternative fuels, is sure to stir up the whole hydrogen vs. plug-in cars debate that's been going on since the DOE slashed H2 funding in May. The Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee responded by marking up the FY 2010 DOE budget and restoring the hydrogen vehicle funding.
If Chu did say what it's reported that he said, then it should be clear that it isn't an official reversal of the Senate's work. It just shows that there are some serious disagreements in Washington about how to best fund the future – and what that future should be. But the DOE is in charge of some big things and, this year, it has handed out billions in loan guarantees for plug-in vehicles, including money for Ford ($5.9 billion), Nissan ($1.6 billion), Tesla Motors ($465 million) and Fisker ($528 million).
[Source: Biofuels Digest]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Lantern42 11:30AM (10/14/2009)
Does he own stock in Tesla or Fisker?
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zamafir 12:13PM (10/14/2009)
nah, he's probably just educated in the matter. electric cars can be had for $30,000~$100,000. you cannot buy a fuel cell car, they cost well in excess of 3x that of a tesla. I'm guessing he's just, rationally, looking at which technology will come to fruition faster, will cost less, and can be put into the hands of consumers now... that's electric.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered cars have a LONG road ahead to viable consumer options on showroom floors (for sale), and hydrogen production has a LONG road ahead towards independence of fossil fuels. I can power an electric car at my place off solar cells, I can't simply fill up my hydrogen car at home. There's a lot more rational in electric cars for the short term while Hydrogen's many decade gestation continues.
miles 1:14PM (10/14/2009)
This guy should be making clear that an H2 vehicle IS an electric vehicle. Really - isn't it (almost) as simple as swapping-out the Fuel cell + H2 tank with a battery? Or vice-sersa? I'm sure the packaging isn't likely to be compatible, but systems-engineering-wise once you have the electrons flowing the rest of the car would be the same stuff...
Rick C. 1:30PM (10/14/2009)
Zamafir, of course he has knowledge in this area. He's a physicist! So maybe I'm biased (I was applied physics major), but I would trust the word of a scientist over a politician any day.
Dan 2:51PM (10/14/2009)
I don't see how knowledge of quantum theory makes one knowledgeable about transportation.
I'd trust a scientist over a politician but I'd trust an automotive engineer over either.
warren 3:19PM (10/14/2009)
Rick C.:
Dr. Steven Chu -is- a scientist. He's a physicist, in fact, with a Nobel Prize in Physics to show for it!
Paul 5:24PM (10/14/2009)
Seriously... this guy must be an idiot. Where does he think electricity comes from? Oh yeah, that's right... mostly from dirty-ass coal, supposedly dangerous nuclear or ecology disruptive damns/hydro.
Nevermind all the strip mining that takes place to build the batteries for these things.
Did I mention he was an idiot?...
Lemon 9:22PM (10/14/2009)
Paul,
Where do you think H2 comes from? Its no cleaner. Also, BEVs are much more energy efficient since there are fewer energy transfer processes with lower loses at each process.
jmc8387 11:37AM (10/14/2009)
I want hydrogen combustion powered vehicles, NO electric cars!
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Quattrofan 11:56AM (10/14/2009)
With current technology hydrogen production is very expensive (not to mention the infrastructure of fueling stations needed), in other words - NOT the way to go. The whole hydrogen car pipe-dream was created only to distract from plug in electric hybrid. See "Who Killed the Electric Car".
Chris 12:01PM (10/14/2009)
Hydrogen powered combustion vehicles? The only idiots doing that are at BMW. Everyone else realizes that whether you're running hydrogen fuel cells or lithium-ion batteries, electric drive is the way to go. It's less complex, cheaper, more efficient, and more reliable.
RX-8 1:11PM (10/14/2009)
Does anyone realize where the electricity comes from? 85% of it comes from burning coal. Not much cleaner than gasoline.
mtavel 9:51AM (10/15/2009)
"Does anyone realize where the electricity comes from? 85% of it comes from burning coal." - FALSE
Year-to-date, coal-fired plants contributed 45.0 percent of the Nation’s electric power. Nuclear plants contributed 20.8 percent, while 21.4 percent was generated at natural gas-fired plants. Of the 1.1 percent generated by petroleum-fired plants, petroleum liquids represented 0.8 percent, with the remainder from petroleum coke. Conventional hydroelectric power provided 7.6 percent of the total, while other renewables (biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind) and other miscellaneous energy sources generated the remaining 3.8 percent of electric power.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html
You can't believe everything Rush and Hannity tell you.
zamafir 2:16PM (10/14/2009)
@RX-8
Yup. Everyone also knows 97% of hydrogen comes from.... ding ding ding, Fossil fuels! Yaaay!
I’m sure ‘everyone’ also knows about ‘solar power’. As mentioned before, ‘everyone’ could potentially outfit their homes, etc, and fill up their own cars. IF electric cars were on sale (real ones, range of 100+ miles, etc) I’d buy one right now and power it with solar, right now. Just because the majority of the entire country’s power (but say, not all states) comes from coal (especially on the east coast) doesn’t mean there are not other options out there.
Electric cars can cut out the oil company middle men, hydrogen fuel cell cars cannot, I'd wager that's why we see a fair amount of 'reminding' people where electricity comes from and ignoring alternatives, or the fact that it's more environmentally responsible to consume that off peak electricity than have it simply go to waste.
crackin516 2:35PM (10/14/2009)
Electric vehicles running on coal fired electricity are still 60% cleaner than conventional gas engine vehicles. As the grid moves to more renewable sources, they will only get cleaner.
jake 6:42PM (10/14/2009)
@RX-8
Stop pulling numbers out of your butt. The US has less than 50% electricity from coal. And because of the efficiency of the electric drivetrain, an EV running on 100% coal is STILL cleaner than an equivalent conventional vehicle.
thipps 11:41AM (10/14/2009)
does free market mean anything to our government?
like i have said before "global warming" is a scam to pass a carbon tax bill. o and guess what they did. its called cap and trade.
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akboss302 11:46AM (10/14/2009)
It's called 'climate change' not global warming, and I'm glad that the protection of our planet is a higher priority than making the next buck. I'm not a quote 'greenie', I'm an automotive enthusiast, but I do make daily choices that reflect my values, and one of those is giving my kids (and yours) the same natural landscape that I was fortunate enough to enjoy.
paul34 11:48AM (10/14/2009)
Nope. The danger is that by pushing a single option so hard, you are not letting the free market do its magic. What would we be driving now had government just picked up and forced the first self-propelled option around? Maybe we'd all still be driving 2 speed steam engined cars.
It's important that every solution be allowed to prosper, as far as the market allows, and eventually one will come out on top without the need for interference. And this one option will be the best of all possible options, determined by the market. However, I fear we will never see this scenario because of the obsession of interfering with the market.
Tourian A5 9:52PM (10/14/2009)
Please let's not forget that if free market is driven by customers. Customer's opinion can be manipulated. When you have the interests of oil companies and the government at stake, there is no such thing as free market. We're all manipulated consumers.
Remember guys, we only know what we see.