Little publicized fact: the $787 billion stimulus bill that Obama signed last week contains $16.6 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office of the Dept of Energy. This increases the EERE’s budget tenfold, and it’s yet another signal that Obama is serious about alternative energy. That’s good.
Also this week, crude oil dipped below $40 for the first time in 2009, which has caused a stall in new energy projects. That’s bad. Oil prices are low because the economy is in terrible shape, which stifles demand. But the longer prices stay low, the harder it will be to commercialize advanced biofuels, which by one estimate will need an oil price of $80-$120 in order to be competitive in a reasonable timeframe.
This is a paradox worth watching as it plays out over the next 25 years. Ideally, you want clean and cheap energy. But that's still a ways off, and for now it seems like you can mainly have one or the other. Which is more important? How do you balance the two demands?
(photo from ifijay's photostream)
Also this week, crude oil dipped below $40 for the first time in 2009, which has caused a stall in new energy projects. That’s bad. Oil prices are low because the economy is in terrible shape, which stifles demand. But the longer prices stay low, the harder it will be to commercialize advanced biofuels, which by one estimate will need an oil price of $80-$120 in order to be competitive in a reasonable timeframe.
This is a paradox worth watching as it plays out over the next 25 years. Ideally, you want clean and cheap energy. But that's still a ways off, and for now it seems like you can mainly have one or the other. Which is more important? How do you balance the two demands?
(photo from ifijay's photostream)
1 comment:
I am all for spreading out the resources we have left. I don't think developing bio-fuels is a silver bullet, the trick is going to be using less more wisely.
For example, this looks ridiculous, but cars that can hit 100mpg could do the trick. (http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=98891&videoChannel=4000).
Check this out too, http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=98949&videoChannel=4000&refresh=true
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