It's Alternative Energy, Not Alternative Fuels (sigh)
If it burns, it's a fuel. If it's ethanol, it's not new.
So I had a problem when BusinessWeek had this headline a few days ago: ENERGY SECRETARY TELLS CEOS NEW FUELS COMING.
Well, I'm not sure that's precisely what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar or Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a meeting in North Carolina. I hope not. Actually, BusinessWeek isn't totally at fault. They simply ran an AP story whose headline seems to have been used elsewhere as well. But a periodical is responsible for its stories. If someone has truly discovered a 'new fuel' out there and it's truly clean, that would be major news. If I were a reporter and or an editor at BusinessWeek, I would have jumped all over that story. Google News would have given me at least a hundred hits and the Dow would have jumped 200 points.
At the very least the editors at BusinessWeek should have read the article which spoke only of wind and solar energy. The last time I looked, we don't burn wind, and solar farms catch sunlight rather than burn it.
Here's a more complete story from Kendall Jones of NBC17:
Saudi Arabia? Okay, somebody used the word 'fuel' at the meeting. Ouch. Etheridge may not have been the only one to use the word. I expect today's Republican politicians to be ignorant because their party has been overrun with right wingers. But Democrats too have an obligation to be careful with their vocabulary. Maybe Etheridge was using 'fuel' as a metaphor. If Salazar or Chu used the word 'fuel,' shame on them. The last thing business CEOs need to hear is more about dreamosol, the magic fuel that will mysteriously appear out of the laboratory and solve all our problems.
During the Bush years, there was talk of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is a true clean fuel. But only after it's put in your car. It has two major problems: you have to strip carbon from fossil fuels or you have use energy to make it from water. It's a solution that isn't a solution.
By the way, here's part of a press release on U.S. Department of Energy website:
The story may be covering a different event on the same trip but at least the writer of the article didn't use the word 'fuel.' There's hope. Maybe the writer of the article should hold seminars for members of Congress.
So I had a problem when BusinessWeek had this headline a few days ago: ENERGY SECRETARY TELLS CEOS NEW FUELS COMING.
Well, I'm not sure that's precisely what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar or Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a meeting in North Carolina. I hope not. Actually, BusinessWeek isn't totally at fault. They simply ran an AP story whose headline seems to have been used elsewhere as well. But a periodical is responsible for its stories. If someone has truly discovered a 'new fuel' out there and it's truly clean, that would be major news. If I were a reporter and or an editor at BusinessWeek, I would have jumped all over that story. Google News would have given me at least a hundred hits and the Dow would have jumped 200 points.
At the very least the editors at BusinessWeek should have read the article which spoke only of wind and solar energy. The last time I looked, we don't burn wind, and solar farms catch sunlight rather than burn it.
Here's a more complete story from Kendall Jones of NBC17:
"North Carolina has the potential as a state to be the Saudi Arabia of alternative fuels," District 2 Congressman Bob Etheridge said.
From offshore renewable energy to solar panels, Washington leaders said North Carolina can manufacture green energy products and harvest the clean fuel.
Secretary Salazar said his agency has cleared out bureaucratic confusion holding up potential offshore renewable energy projects.
Saudi Arabia? Okay, somebody used the word 'fuel' at the meeting. Ouch. Etheridge may not have been the only one to use the word. I expect today's Republican politicians to be ignorant because their party has been overrun with right wingers. But Democrats too have an obligation to be careful with their vocabulary. Maybe Etheridge was using 'fuel' as a metaphor. If Salazar or Chu used the word 'fuel,' shame on them. The last thing business CEOs need to hear is more about dreamosol, the magic fuel that will mysteriously appear out of the laboratory and solve all our problems.
During the Bush years, there was talk of a hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is a true clean fuel. But only after it's put in your car. It has two major problems: you have to strip carbon from fossil fuels or you have use energy to make it from water. It's a solution that isn't a solution.
By the way, here's part of a press release on U.S. Department of Energy website:
“This is a company whose mission is to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change and to build a sustainable, triple-bottom-line that values people, the planet and profit,” Salazar said during his visit. “Its employees have installed more than 11,000 solar panels, producing about 2.8 million kilowatt hours of clean energy.
Their work in 2008 offset more than 74 million pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of planting 5.7 million trees. These folks believe they can help change the world for the better and we couldn’t agree more.”
"Solar power produced by SAS here in Cary is a great example of the emerging energy economy, and a model for forward-thinking policies driving innovation in our state,” Sen. Hagan said. “North Carolina is well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities in this new economy. I am committed to investing in sustainable, American-made energy that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create new manufacturing jobs in North Carolina and throughout the nation."
The story may be covering a different event on the same trip but at least the writer of the article didn't use the word 'fuel.' There's hope. Maybe the writer of the article should hold seminars for members of Congress.
Labels: alternative energy
posted by Poechewe at 11:05 PM
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