Renewable Myths, Agnosticism and Chinese Depression Go 
Capgemini highlights some of the key misperceptions associated with renewable energy in the latest smartgridnews.com. The common theme is that efficiently and effectively incorporating newer technologies (plug-ins, location constrained renewables, etc) is more complicated than policy makers lead on. The writers emphasize that the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are to: 1) reduce consumption (by increasing efficiency), 2) create a smarter grid that reduces losses (not necessarily finding ways to shift household loads to offpeak periods) and 3) find and develop technologies that are truly renewable.
Self proclaimed agnostic Energy Secretary Chu, doesn’t see the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel as the critical solution for US energy policy as T. Boone Pickens has promoted. He is right to emphasize that the use of natural gas vehicles is more complicated due to potential natural gas pipeline transportation constraints. However, his concept of creating a global flow of ideas through dropping intellectual property protection on some technologies will not provide more incentive to the GE’s of the world to spend more. GE’s Ecomagination Head is clear, “Why would we invest $1.5 billion a year in innovation that just slips through your fingers? I mean, why would anybody invest in anything that they would have to just give away?”
Strings attached… Does the government’s intensive involvement in the banking and automotive industry portend their involvement with companies’ use of energy-focused stimulus funds?
The Waxman Markey Bill and more specifically the “cap & dividend” bill sponsored by Rep van Hollen look to quantify the emission impact from imports of carbon intensive products and in the case of the “cap & dividend” bill to charge a carbon equivalency fee. Not surprising, the developing economies of India and China are not too keen on this approach and classify it as green protectionism.
China depressed? Platts reports that China will not follow the US on proposed initiatives to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions. The Chinese ambassador to the UN, Yu, believes that recent pledges by the EU as insufficient to have any real impact on climate change. China believes they are making good progress in managing this themselves. He adds, “I sometimes get depressed at the slow pace of these talks [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change], but then I remember that the negotiating process is supposed to be like this.”
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