Bill Gates: US should invest more in Renewable Energy R&D

 

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates urges that the Washington should invest more in RE and expand government energy research in RE.

Bill Gates has capitalized into nuclear power company TerraPower, Liquid Metal Battery, and he is also a member of the American Energy Innovation Council, which campaigner for greater government participation in energy development to spur technology innovation in RE.

Gates captured a guest editorial in Science proposing that the US government should add more than triple to its present R&D investment to US$16 billion annually. The federal government currently spends roughly small investment of $5 billion annually. Insufficient funding has led to a 75 percent drop in federal research over the past three decades, he wrote.

Bill Gates asked that Congress assembly political courage and be willing to expend more money even if doing do is unpopular at present. Failure to invest would threaten America’s national interest and risk its position in the international clean energy industry, Gates argued.

What’s within the national interest doesn’t continually spur action from Congress. The politics of Solyndra’s bankruptcy, and also the failure of a Congressional “super committee” to compromise on budget cuts, may need Gate’s request fall on unsympathetic ears.

Automatic budget cuts can go into impact across the board beginning in 2013, and Congress continues to be investigating a $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee created to Solyndra. Oversight hearings have simply begun, and last week’s questioning of Energy Secretary Stephan Chu exceeded the time the chamber spent difficult BP chief govt Tony Hayward on the Gulf oil spill.

Leading political analysts say that Solyndra’s fallout can hamper tries to renew investments into renewables – particularly with the 2012 Presidential election looming simply over the horizon. Republicans can necessitate subsidizing ancient sources of energy and eschew Democratic appeals for inexperienced energy R&D spending.

Over the past 3 years, even problems that after drew a consensus became party line votes. Congress is unlikely to act in an exceedingly bipartisan manner, as a result of the politics is currently overshadowing reasoned policymaking. Build mention of world warming as inducement to action, and every one possibilities at a compromise are gone.

The days of politics creating ’strange bedfellows’ and ‘grand coalitions’ seem to be over. one party’s unwillingness to bend on ideology will interfere with even the fundamental functions of presidency. perhaps Gates would be a lot of successful if he wrote out a check.

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