Chemical Engineer <[email protected]> wrote: Hell, Obama skipped right by basic research and gave billions to "green" > energy companies to rush out products destined for failure
That is nonsense. All of the technology the government has assisted has been conventional, long established, proven stuff such as wind turbines and PVs. The failures have all been cause by rapidly falling prices, which are caused by competition by China. The Chinese are spending much more than we are, and they are capturing markets all over the world. The price of PV electricity has fallen drastically in recent years. There are many competing techniques, and many companies pursuing each technology. They cannot all survive. This kind of shakeout is typical for emerging technologies. It happened with automobiles, transistors, personal computers, and many others. I wish the government would do more research on risky new ideas, especially cold fusion. - Jed
