{"id":3486,"date":"2012-12-20T18:57:39","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T18:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2012-12-27T15:23:53","modified_gmt":"2012-12-27T15:23:53","slug":"dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe changing energy landscape and the resulting trade opportunities it affords will continue to provide consumers with more choices, more value, more wealth and more good jobs.\u201d \u2013 ExxonMobil Energy Outlook, 12\/12\/12<\/a><\/p>\n

I agree with Exxon.<\/p>\n

We are moving closer to energy independence. But, even as the U.S. is facing a boom in natural gas, the only way we\u2019ll reach our goal is if we don\u2019t shortchange alternative energy research and development.\u00a0 Changing the energy landscape must include rapid advances in zero carbon energy technologies, for very good reasons that are in danger of being overlooked in the fiscal cliff negotiations.<\/p>\n

First, despite its great promise,\u00a0we should remember that important questions remain about the health and environmental impacts of natural gas operations. The extraction and distribution of natural gas can result in the release of methane<\/a> \u2013 the main ingredient in natural gas and a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide.\u00a0 Due to the many possible escape routes for methane into the atmosphere, the true carbon footprint of natural gas\u00a0is uncertain right now<\/a>, and we need to diversify our energy portfolio and avoid getting locked into an over-reliance on one energy source.<\/p>\n

Second, micro-grids will be increasingly important in a world with more storms, flooding, and other \u201cweird weather.\u201d We must be prepared for that scenario. Alternative energy and smart grid solutions can be more resilient, if designed properly. The current model of a large, centralized energy plant is increasingly problematic.<\/p>\n

Third, alternative energy offers enormous potential for economic development, exports, and even savings on energy bills. As just one example, look at the Department of Energy\u2019s investments into fuel cells.\u00a0 According to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index<\/a>, more clean energy patents are associated with fuel cell technologies than with any other clean energy technology, with over 950 fuel cell patents issued in 2011. Fuel cell durability has doubled, expensive platinum content has been reduced by a factor of five, and the cost of fuel cells has fallen 80% since 2002<\/a>. With DOE support, 36 commercial technologies have entered the global market as of this past fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These advances can benefit communities across the country. \u00a0Tulare, California invested in molten carbonate fuel cells for its wastewater treatment plant; this plant now produces about 45% of the electricity needed<\/a> to run the plant which translates into a savings of more than $1 million per year (not to mention 6,200 tons less CO2 <\/sub>per year).\u00a0 With over 16,500 wastewater treatment plants in the U.S., communities could find enormous savings and build more resilience — if access to other fuel source is interrupted or electricity goes down, the plant can continue to partially operate and provide critical services to the community.<\/p>\n

Talk about more choices and more value for communities, and more wealth and more good jobs for suppliers of fuel cells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe changing energy landscape and the resulting trade opportunities it affords will continue to provide consumers with more choices, more value, more wealth and more good jobs.\u201d \u2013 ExxonMobil Energy Outlook, 12\/12\/12 I agree with Exxon. We are moving closer to energy independence. But, even as the U.S. is facing a boom in natural gas, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":495,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,324],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renewable-energy","category-washington-dc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDon\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe changing energy landscape and the resulting trade opportunities it affords will continue to provide consumers with more choices, more value, more wealth and more good jobs.\u201d \u2013 ExxonMobil Energy Outlook, 12\/12\/12 I agree with Exxon. We are moving closer to energy independence. But, even as the U.S. is facing a boom in natural gas, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jackie Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jackie Roberts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jackie Roberts\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956\"},\"headline\":\"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Renewable Energy\",\"Washington, DC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/\",\"name\":\"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/20\\\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956\",\"name\":\"Jackie Roberts\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\\\/page.cfm?tagID=31066\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/jroberts\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange","og_description":"\u201cThe changing energy landscape and the resulting trade opportunities it affords will continue to provide consumers with more choices, more value, more wealth and more good jobs.\u201d \u2013 ExxonMobil Energy Outlook, 12\/12\/12 I agree with Exxon. We are moving closer to energy independence. But, even as the U.S. is facing a boom in natural gas, ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jackie Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jackie Roberts","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/"},"author":{"name":"Jackie Roberts","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956"},"headline":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development","datePublished":"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/"},"wordCount":478,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg","articleSection":["Renewable Energy","Washington, DC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/","name":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg","datePublished":"2012-12-20T18:57:39+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-27T15:23:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2012\/12\/Jackie-Roberts-Photo-199x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2012\/12\/20\/dont-walk-away-from-clean-energy-research-development\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Don\u2019t Walk Away From Clean Energy Research & Development"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/61f4ec33e25c67514cbeeb50f70b2956","name":"Jackie Roberts","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/page.cfm?tagID=31066"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/jroberts\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}