Anti-coal biofuel researcher will become Obama's Secretary of Energy
The US Secretary of Energy is not exactly a glamorous position. I mean, go ahead and name the current one. Give up? It's Samuel Bodman, whose name we've had on AutoblogGreen with some regularity and still I needed to Wikipedia the position to recall his name. But the next Secretary might become a bit better known thanks to the issues that he'll be dealing with as we shift from oil to alternatives. Today, the news is out that President-elect Barack Obama has picked Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu to be his Secretary of Energy. What does Chu believe? Here are some things to keep in mind:- Chu has said "corn is not the right crop for biofuels" and has personally worked on ways to make ethanol and biodiesel more efficiently.
- As for ways to power all of the plug-in vehicles we hope will become a reality during the first Obama term, coal is realistically going to be a big part of the picture. Chu, though, called coal his "worst nightmare" and is pro-nuclear.
- Chu is a believer in global warming.
So, while the personal beliefs of the Secretary of Energy don't make national policy, we can at least read the tea leaves for a feel of what we might be dealing with in the coming years. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.
[Source: Domestic Fuel]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MT 6:33PM (12/11/2008)
Nice to see science people getting some love after years of non-science beurocrats deciding what scientific findings can be pubished/publicized.
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Maestro 11:14PM (12/11/2008)
Looks like a great pic. A friend of mine is a physicist and he's elated.
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Doug 11:24PM (12/11/2008)
I'm a physicist and I'm pretty happy about it too.
occ 12:34AM (12/12/2008)
You guys are not the only ones...engineers like me and my coworkers are ecstatic about the pick. Finally, someone who understand science in in position that requires scientific understanding and knowledge.
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JDP 1:23AM (12/12/2008)
Browsing the wikipedia entries for many previous secretaries of energy, it seems like way too many energy secretaries may have had law or business degrees from the fancy-shmanciest of schools, but there is a significant dearth of real energy experts (physicists, engineers, etc.) appointed to the post. To that I say, go forth, Mr. Chu, and buck that trend.
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Bill 7:13AM (12/12/2008)
So we can finally get some pebble-bed reactors built?
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Tim 9:20AM (12/12/2008)
Here's a video on EVWorld.com of Dr. Steven Chu discussing making a transition ot sustainable energy:
http://www.evworld.com/EVWORLD_TV.CFM?storyid=1354
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oollyoumn 10:02AM (12/12/2008)
It is encouraging to see that science may no longer be a dirty word once we have the new administration.
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Throwback 11:02AM (12/12/2008)
My question is can he run a large bureaucracy efficiently? Being a scientist is fine but how are his management skills?
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pstoller78 11:15AM (12/12/2008)
I know he ran one of the national labs for a time so he has some management skills.
stas peterson 10:14AM (12/16/2008)
Dr. Chu deserves his chance. but he wil find the total intolerance and absence of reality from the likes of the Sierra club to be a millstones.
Reality and Dr.Chu has it, says that eneregy will come from Coal and Nuclear.
Instead he wil face propaganda and religious unreality from eco green wackos demanding 20% of our enrgy must come from what they decree are renewable when thatose sources are unlikely to produce 2% and not 20% in 10 years. And their definition of renewables are massive polluters that their propaganda suppresses.
Solar thermal pollutions and 'albedo altering effects are just not recognized and hundreds of times worse than putative GHG effects
Geothermal sites are were you find them and drilling into volcanoes produces lots of toxic wastes as well as requiring long distances for transporting the energy generated. All things the religion based diogma of the eco wackos will not allow.
God Luck Dr. Chu. As the evidence accumulates that GHG have little to do with global warming at least you will have the basis of a trained mind to be persuaded again; once again unlike the idiocy emitted by thedogma inspiration of the eco-wackos.
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Andy Wahl 8:36PM (12/20/2008)
NET ZERO
Our world needs to be serious about Appropriate Technology when it comes to the energy issues and climate change we have.
The political world wants to use Alternative Energy. This does not address the reduction of the waste as the energy is passed through the system. Please do not misunderstand, Alternative Energy has its place but is not the cure all for our immediate issues.
Or world need to be putting the majority of our dollars and resources (man power) into the reduction of what we consume first. Only then should we be investing in technologies that we have no idea on how long it will take to bring them to market. Let’s use the 80-20 rule, 80% into what we have and 20% into new.
We already have off the shelf technology to build houses that are true Net Zero (meaning no utility bill). So why are we not doing this? You the consumer need to demand this from your local codes, architect, builder, and manufacture of the appliances and products in your home. And if the home does not perform as promised all should be held accountable,
We can even make the majority of existing homes at least 60-80% more efficient then they are. Through a Home Performance Evaluation by a qualified Building Science Person, then remediation by a company that knows how to do Home Performance Remediation. Then a test out to be sure the house performs. This is by products that are off the shelf and are available today!!!
So instead of looking for the silver bullet approach lets do the thousands of silver bb’s and reduce our consumption along with the technology we have to use renewable energy. Together these two avenues will lead us to the desired goal, less pollution, reduced climate change, less dependence on fossil fuels, many jobs and we can start today.
For those who do not believe homes can be so energy efficient look at the Austrian Passive Home.
And this is only what can be done in the residential market that uses about 21.75% (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/diagram1.html) of our nation’s energy. There are huge efficiency increases that can be made in the other sectors. This along with Renewable Energy could make the world NET ZERO, what a thought.
Andy Wahl
Whole House Performance
Our 23 yr old house produces more electricity than we consume. This is year 7 of our 2.8 KW PV system. Each year we work on a project to reduce our energy bill.
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