America is at a “Sputnik moment”, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said today, and the government’s next moves will determine whether the country leads the global cleantech race or loses it to China.
“This is the threat that I see,” Chu said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. “The U.S. still has the opportunity to lead in a new industrial revolution. It is a way to secure our future prosperity, but I believe our time is running out.”
The timing of the speech was no accident. It came as new global climate talks got underway in Mexico and as President Obama prepares to sit down for talks with the new Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.
When the U.S.S.R. launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, it shook the American industrial and military establishment; few knew the Russians were capable of such a feat. Eleven days afterward, President Dwight Eisenhower announced a new commitment to scientific R&D that led to decades of American technological dominance.
Of course, today’s announcement was made not by President Obama, but a cabinet secretary. And that just begins to state the differences between 1957 and 2010. Eisenhower faced a clear enemy at an emphatic historical moment. He wasn’t saddled with a $13.7 trillion national debt or an opposing political party whose top priority was denying him another term in office.
To fend off likely Republican opposition, Chu steered away from divisive issues like climate change and instead turned his attention to the threat from China. He cited figures from a report about China’s rising scientific prowess, designed to scare even the most angry and penny-pinching Tea Party congressman.
In the last 15 years, Chu said, China has gone from 15th place to 5th in international patents and from 14th place to 2nd place in published research articles. Of 50 or so nuclear reactors under construction around the world, 30 are in China. China just surpassed the U.S. with the world’s fastest supercomputer, has a 220-mph rail line that is the fastest in the world, and has broken ground on a rail network almost four times larger than the next most developed rail country, France. The U.S. is just sketching out its plan for high-speed rail.
Furthermore, Chu cited figures that eight of the ten global companies with the largest R&D budgets have set up research facilities in China and/or India. And then there’s the fact that U.S. tech giant Applied Materials has built the world’s largest private research facility — in China.
Chu remained upbeat that the U.S. could win the energy race by building on investments the Obama adminstration has made so far, notably through the Energy Department’s ARPA-E program that gives seed funding to promising energy technologies. ARPA-E has set ambitious targets, like a car battery that can go 500 miles on a single charge, synthesizing fuels from sunlight, and reducing the cost of photovoltaic solar by a factor of four, so it can compete with coal.
“Let’s seize this opportunity,” Chu said. “We can’t afford not to.”
Article by David Ferris, appearing courtesy the Matter Network.
7 comments
I am concerned that the Tea Partyers consider their goal to prevent Obama from having a 2nd term more important than the goal of becoming a world leader in the Post Oil World Economy. They would rather sacrifice our competitiveness in this crucial time than to build on the good work that Obama has begun in R & D in battery technology, electric transportation and other technologies. This work will define the countries who will be paid by the rest of the world in years to come for these innovations that they will have perfected.
President Obama, those of us who do not believe the Fox News type entertainment that passes for real news know that your plans for funding innovation in green energy issues can still win us a place as the leader that we once were. We will continue to support you. Thanks for all you are doing. History will see this hard right reaction for the belch that it is. Be strong.
Some interesting but little reported structural and cultural aspect which puts China way ahead on this so called ‘race’.
In villages all over China some 2 million, yes 2 million anaerobic digestion units are in operation and have been since the 1980s. These little concrete units get filled with animal, farming, domestic and human waste. This produces mainly methane in the pressure enclosure. This methane is then used to provide electricity via generators and heat waste used to give hot water and heating. In summer it can be adapted to provide air conditioning in the Southern states.
Now this nicely deals with waste, heat and power needs.
Its also very advantageous in that each village can be power secure and no need for expensive power distribution infrastructure.
What gets reported is that China is building big power stations all over, but this is to power their industrial growth.
In addition to the above China produces huge volumes of solar thermal tubes that provide hot water. In addition these same tubes can be part of an air conditioning system to cut electrical air conditioning needs by around 50%. On a recent trip to Florida I did not see many such installations on the roof-lines and yet residents seem to be happy to spend $200-400 per month plus on powering their air conditioning.
And the above is before we start talking about the development of solar PV panels. Which seems to be all journalists report on.
China has the lead on the US because they are rapidly growing, housing stocks are increasing very fast but are built to the latest standards. Contrast this to the US (or anywhere in Europe) where the housing stock has grown slowly over decades with many houses not up to the latest standards. Thus the housing stock in the US will not, as a whole, be up to the standards of the Chinese as a whole. This is the structural advantage that the Chinese will have over any developed nation.
Therefore China deserve their position, but its more to do with their rapid transition from rural to industrial superpower than necessarily planned efficiency. Having said that China do have 5 year plans and energy is one of them. They are big with wind turbines too. The Nuclear programme is not something I agree with and like any nuclear programme its behind schedule.
But all in all China is a massive producer of a great deal of alternative energy systems across a wide variety of technologies. So some respect is due to them on this subject
Answer – Yes & NO See Answer below.
New Energy Sources was written by Peter Lindemann, D. Sc. and summarized and edited by Fred Burks
New Energy Sources and Inventions
In the late 1880’s, trade journals in the electrical sciences were predicting “free electricity” in the near future. Incredible discoveries about the nature of electricity were becoming commonplace. Within 20 years, there would be automobiles, airplanes, movies, recorded music, telephones, radio, and practical cameras. For the first time in history, common people were encouraged to envision a utopian future filled with abundant modern transportation and communication, as well as jobs, housing and food for everyone. So what happened? Where did the new energy breakthroughs go? Was this excitement about free electricity all just wishful thinking that science eventually disproved?
Current State of Technology. The answer is no. Spectacular new energy technologies were developed right along with other breakthroughs. Since then, multiple methods for producing vast amounts of energy at extremely low cost have been developed. None of these technologies have made it to the open consumer market, however. Why this is true will be discussed shortly. First, here is a short list of new energy technologies. The common feature connecting all of these discoveries is that they use a small amount of one form of energy to control or release a large amount of a different kind of energy.
• Radiant Energy. Nikola Tesla’s Magnifying Transmitter, T. Henry Moray’s Radiant Energy Device, Edwin Gray’s EMA Motor, and Paul Baumann’s Testatika Machine all run on Radiant Energy. This natural energy can perform the same wonders as ordinary electricity at less than 1% of the cost. It does not behave exactly like electricity, however, which has contributed to the scientific community’s misunderstanding of it. The Methernitha Community in Switzerland currently has 5 or 6 working models of Fuelless, self-running devices that tap this energy. [More]
• Permanent Magnets. Dr. Tom Bearden has two working models of a permanent magnet powered electrical transformer. It uses a 6-watt electrical input to control the path of a magnetic field coming out of a magnet. By channeling the magnetic field, first to one output coil then a second repeatedly and rapidly, the device can produce a 96-watt electrical output with no moving parts. Multiple inventors have working mechanisms that produce torque from permanent magnets alone. [More]
• Super-Efficient Electrolysis. Water can be broken into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. When water is hit with its own molecular resonant frequency, it collapses into hydrogen and oxygen gas with little electrical input. Hydrogen fuel can drive engines (like in your car) for the cost of water. [More]
• Cold Fusion. Though initial claims were debunked, cold fusion is very real. Not only has excess heat production been repeatedly documented, but also low energy atomic element transmutation has been catalogued, involving dozens of different reactions. [More]
There are dozens of other systems. Many are viable and well tested. But this short list is sufficient to make the point: new energy technology is here. It offers the world pollution-free energy abundance for everyone, everywhere. It is now possible to stop the production of “greenhouse gases” and shut down the nuclear power plants. Transportation and production costs for just about everything can drop dramatically. Yet all these wonderful benefits that can make life on this planet so much easier and better for everyone have been postponed for decades. Why? Whose purposes are served by this postponement?
Four Invisible Forces. There are four forces that have worked together to create this situation. The wealthiest families and their central banking institutions are the first force. Their motivations are greed and the need to control almost everything except themselves. Their plan is to eventually control all of the resources of the world, and thereby control everyone’s life through the availability of all goods and services. An independent source of wealth (new energy device) in the hands of every person in the world ruins their plans for world domination. They don’t want any competition. The weapons they have used to enforce this include intimidation, “expert” debunkers, buying and shelving of technology, and murder of inventors. They have also promoted the scientific theory that states free energy is impossible (laws of thermodynamics).
The second force is national governments. The problem here is related to the maintenance of national security. There is a constant jockeying for position and influence in world affairs, and the strongest party wins. In economics, it’s the golden rule: “The one with the gold makes the rules.” Unlimited energy on this planet will lead to an inevitable reshuffling of the balance of power. Everybody will want it, and at the same time, want to prevent everyone else from getting it. So, national governments’ motivations are self-preservation. Their weapons include preventing the issuance of patents based on national security grounds, harassment of inventors with criminal charges, tax audits, threats, phone taps, arson, theft, and a host of other intimidations which make the business of building and marketing a new energy machine practically impossible.
The third force consists of deluded inventors and con men. On the periphery of the extraordinary scientific breakthroughs that constitute real new energy technologies, lies a shadow world of unexplained anomalies, marginal inventions and unscrupulous promoters. The first two forces have constantly used the media to promote the worst examples of this group, to distract the public’s attention, and to discredit real breakthroughs by associating them with the frauds. So, the third force is delusion and dishonesty. The motivations are self-aggrandizement, greed, want of power over others, and a false sense of self-importance. The weapons used are lying, cheating, self-delusion and arrogance combined with bad science.
The fourth force operating to postpone the public availability of new energy technology is all of the rest of us. It may be easy to see how narrow and selfish the motivations of the other forces are, but actually, these motivations are still very much alive in each of us as well. Like the wealthiest families, don’t we each secretly harbor illusions of false superiority and want to control others instead of ourselves? Also, wouldn’t you sell out if the price were high enough? Or like the governments, don’t we each want to ensure our own survival? Or like the deluded inventor, don’t we trade a comfortable illusion once in a while for an uncomfortable fact? Or don’t we still fear the unknown, even if it promises a great reward?
All four forces are just different aspects of the same process. There is really only one force preventing the availability of new energy technology, and that is un-spiritually motivated behavior. New energy technology is an outward manifestation of divine abundance. It is the engine of the economy of an enlightened society, where people voluntarily behave in a respectful and civil manner toward each other. Un-spiritualized humans cannot be trusted with new energy. They will only do what they have always done, which is to take merciless advantage of each other, or kill each other and themselves in the process.
The Opportunity. What is new is that you and I can communicate with each other now better than at anytime in the past. The Internet offers us, the fourth force, an opportunity to overcome the combined efforts of the other forces preventing new energy technology from spreading. What is starting to happen is that inventors are publishing their work, instead of patenting it and keeping it secret. More and more, people are “giving away” information on these technologies in books, videos and websites. While there is still a great deal of useless information about new energy on the Internet, the availability of good information is rising rapidly.
All of us constitute the fourth force. If we stand up and refuse to remain ignorant and action-less, we can change the course of history. Only mass action can create the world we want. The other three forces will not help us put a Fuelless power plant in our homes. New energy technology will change everything about the way we live, work and relate to each other. It obsoletes greed and fear for survival. But like all exercises of spiritual faith, we must first manifest generosity and trust in our own lives.
New energy technology is here. It has been here for decades. Communications technology and the Internet have torn the veil of secrecy off of this remarkable fact. People all over the world are starting to build new energy devices. The bankers and governments don’t want this to happen, but can’t stop it. Tremendous economic instabilities and wars will be used to distract people’s attention from the new energy movement. There will be essentially no major media coverage of this aspect of what is going on.
Western society is in many ways spiraling toward self-destruction due to the accumulated effects of greed and corruption. New energy technologies cannot stop this trend. If, however, you have a new energy device, you may be better positioned to support the transition that is underway. The question is who will ultimately control the emerging world government, the first force, or the fourth force? Those who choose the fourth force may live to see the dawn of the world of new energy. I challenge you to be among the ones who do so.
New Energy Sources was written by Peter Lindemann, D. Sc. and summarized and edited by Fred Burks
Whilst in agreement on a lot of issues, consumers are best advised that the issue is not the cost of power generation, it the cost of DISTRIBUTION of that power.
The Utilities and by virtue Governments want to control distribution.
But if we move towards self generated, de-centralized embedded power generation (and please lets not forget the heat that accompanies power generation which is lost in centralized power plants) then that link can and will be broken.
I would rather see roof-lines bristling with solar tubes, PV, and vertical axis wind turbines. In addition local waste to energy plants delivering both power, heat and cooling are also desperately needed.
The democratisation of power is what is needed and we can all vote on that by installing our own systems.
If we’re “racing” here, and we should be, it’s more of a “Hurry, Timmy fell down the well!” than a “Oh my gosh we can’t let the Chinese beat us!” The death of our planet and our way of life that will result if we don’t act fast will impact people of all nations. If making a contest out of it helps, then let’s go for it. But this is not a race to the moon – it’s a race for survival. Let’s not lose sight of that fact.
According to other s like Thomas Friedman (“Hot, Flat, and Crowded”), China may soon surpass USA in many different Green Technologies categories. USA can do so much better… work together in bi-partisan support, set achievable long-term GreenTech goals (next 10-20-30yrs) with solid financing, re-educate the work-force for GreenTech jobs, and less deliberation in our democracy! If not USA soon will be buying cheaper electric cars, solar-panels, wind generators, etc.
GreenTech made in the USA… not made in China!! America is at it’s best when it innovates… the last great global innovation was the commercial Internet (USA)… let’s make the next great global innovation “Energy Technology” (USA)!!!
By continually refusing to renew the Biodiesel FET credit, Congress expedited severe setbacks to our burgeoning biofuels industry. Thousands of jobs were lost as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, and U.S. production of biodiesel has decreased significantly. We keep hearing from our national leaders that they support bioenergy, and specifically biodiesel, but we in the industry are still waiting for action. The potential for locally produced biodiesel to bring jobs, economic growth, environmental protection and energy security to communities throughout America is huge, but only if we help the industry compete with the absurdly subsidized petroleum industry!
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