 |
 |
 |
||
|
||||
|
Februrary 8, 2006
Response lukewarm to Bush renewable energy budget
By RAEM WONG
The president's budget increases spending on research and development for solar power to $149 million, about an 80 percent increase over this year. Wind power would receive a $5 million hike to $44 million. "You throw $5 million into a program like that and it barely pays for the secretaries," said Tim Carlson, managing partner of Nevada Wind, which is developing the state's first wind farm near Ely. Carlson said the White House's new Advanced Energy Initiative fell far short of Bush's goal articulated in his State of the Union speech of ending the nation's "addiction" to foreign oil. But Carlson and other renewable energy advocates agreed that the infusion of federal research dollars could make the sun and the wind more competitive with oil and gas as energy sources. "That's a step in the right direction," said Steve Rypka of Solar, NV. - the local chapter of the American Solar Energy Society. The budget calls for closing the $23 million Geothermal Technology program, which industry officials said threatened the development of new technology for a promising clean-energy source. "It's very shortsighted," said Dan Schochet, vice president of Ormat, a Nevada-based geothermal company Industry officials say the research dollars are critical to making geothermal exploration and drilling more efficient and cost effective. "If we've got all this energy beneath our feet, why can't we use it?" said Karl Gawell of the Geothermal Energy Association. "The answer is technology." Experts describe Nevada as a hotbed of geothermal activity. With modest technological advancements, the state's subterranean reserves could generate 1,500 megawatts of energy, or enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes, Schochet said. Rebecca Wagner, Gov. Kenny Guinn's energy adviser, added, "I'm very disappointed to see geothermal research completely eliminated." The Natural Resources Defense Council criticized the budget proposal, calling the increase in renewable energy spending "an elaborate shell game" while the White House supports policies benefiting the oil and gas industries that damage the environment. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that taxpayer money could be better spent in developing other renewable energy, as well as new "clean" coal and nuclear power plants. "We believe that we can more effectively put money to work in developing the ethanol program, for example, or solar energy than on working on geothermal," Bodman said. Bodman added, "It doesn't mean that it's not a valuable source of energy." Industry officials say the clean-energy effort would also be helped if Congress made permanent tax credits for new alternative energy plants, which are set to expire next year, making it difficult for companies to make long-term plans. |
|
