The Technology Review, in an
interview with a New York University physics professor, discusses whether the marketplace will pick the winners for our
future energy sources, or if a more directed approach, similar to an “Apollo Program”, would be more
effective. A number of good points are made by retired Prof. Marty Hoffert, outlining three general categories of
future energy supplies, and some of the barriers to their success. The key to all of this, though, is the fact that
energy policy makers are mostly economists, and not engineers. They are unaware of the available technologies, and the
research required to bring them in to the mainstream. Looking back in time, the development of a number of major
technologies have all been funded by government R&D funds, which have been declining significantly over the last
decade.
[Source: The Technology Review]