NEW ENERGY QUOTE OF THE YEAR

U.S. Revives Aid Program for Clean Energy

Diane Cardwell, September 19, 2013 (NY Times)

"If you do coal the right way, it’s so expensive that wind and solar beat it on the markets, and that’s why the guys who want to do coal the right way need their policy support [with loan guarantees, research assistance and tax incentives]...Wind and solar are big kids and almost competitive on their own already, but the advanced fossil and small nuclear are still years away." -- Michael E. Webber, deputy director, University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute

"The Energy Department’s loan program was created in 2005 under President Bush to spur commercial adoption of innovative technologies or those that avoided, reduced or permanently stored pollutants. In 2008, Congress added another section, for more fuel-efficient cars, and a year later created a temporary program to encourage renewable energy and electrical transmission projects…[It] has since expired, but the department still has about $50 billion left that could be lent, with a large chunk earmarked for nuclear projects…On a $34 billion loan portfolio, the government has lost about $800 million…That’s about 2.3 percent, and only a small fraction of the $10 billion Congress set aside to cover losses…" click here for more

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