SEP 22

I've travelled around China; I've seen the poverty it suffers firsthand. It's hardly surprising that many in the West think of this mighty nation as little more than a Third World country that survives by producing third-rate goods.

How refreshing, then, to see China grabbing the opportunity to be innovative when it comes to alternative energy. How will this make Western leaders feel? Will they simply sit back and let China be their guinea pig or will such initiative inspire them to jump onboard and forge ahead with green energy solutions instead of stalling as they usually do?

China is a world power and will have the greatest global economy in the very near future, so it's great that they are trying to establish a sustainable infrastructure.

Now, if they could just do the same for all their coal power stations, they really would be setting an incredible example.

Let's hope this new 'green' attitude can transfer over into other areas - their attitude towards human rights and animal rights.

Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
and suspense thriller 'What if...?'

I think all the countries must learn from this. It is truly very innovative..

Annie Bankss

Save Our Planet

Just a few days ago I heard about a European city, Berlin i think, which was planning to set up a network of charging stations all over. What would be great is if more civic authorities thought to emulate these far sighted town planners and encouraged people to go green, go electric.

What China is doing is good, but the implications for the US are bad. China represents a different kind of capitalism, one where democracy is not a fundamental component. However, this runs counter to the US's message, where prosperity is created through greater democracy.

Should China beat US in several key areas, green innovation being one of them, then this will decouple our message and our credibility further than it already is!

Step up, US!

I'm glad to see two things-

1) China thinking beyond infrastructure for the combustion engine.

2) Recognition that 'plug ins' will require tremendous investments. It is not as simple as just tapping 'existing infrastructure'. We will need extensions.

I am glad to see batteries evolving, but skeptical of their long term viability against fuel cell systems. I believe that batteries and electricity are only a piece of the puzzle to electric propulsion systems. We must recognize the role of hydrogen fuel cells as complimentary to battery systems.

While fuel cells are often attacked in blog comment sections, the cost of hydrogen fueling stations are likely to be far less than these recharge stations. And the density of solid state storage could be a clear advantage for atoms over electrons.

So I'm glad to see the real world applications (esp in China) of plug-ins but also think we need to think wisely about where we want to put our resources.

Cars are not iPods- and it is hard to imagine batteries being the platform for electric motors in the decades ahead.

I've written a post on a new blog - The Energy Roadmap -- on how to think about vehicle fueling infrastructure!

http://tinyurl.com/4n6m7j

Thanks for the news!!!

Garry G - Editor, TheEnergyRoadmap.com

The United States Government could not be happier that China is taking the initiative to adopt alternative energies and make them mainstream. Next, we will be pulling for India to do the same...and they will become the world leaders in alternative energy technology and usage...leaving the Unitd States in the dust...and that suits the big wigs in Washington just fine. The more China and India become dependent on alternative fuels and energy, the more oil there is fo the Unieted States to horde and profit on.

China's forward progress in alternative energy may even be subsidized by the Oil giants for all we know. If they were to continue to exponentially grow their economy at the pace it has been growing the past 5 years, it would have caused a major stress on world oil supplies. India's growth as well puts a huge dent into supplies and a stress on production capacity.

The United States is in the middle of an election. If you think that it's a coincisdence that the Volt was introduced 6 weeks before an American election...then I'll introduce you to a Nigerian diplomat that has a million dollars he wants to out into your bank account...in exchange for your bank account #.

The United States has no plans for alternative deployements any time soon. They will tell us anything in an election year...They would rather see the rest of the world deploy such technology at a very rapid pace, while we continue to make hundreds of billions...in PROFITS! for Chevron, ARCO and the handfull of other oil mongers out there.

You guys are so gullible.

This is great, but why does each charging station cost more than a car to build? What is it besides a computer and a an electricity feed?

It would spread quicker if it was cheaper.

It's great to hear everyone fired up about electric cars, but coal-fired power plants are the dominate means to produce electricity, meaning the only thing electric car users are saving is money. Until China and every other country develops true alternative energy solutions, electric cars will still only be a patch for a much larger issue. I'm waiting on cars with bodies built of solar cells...

Why are people clamoring for the government to build these charging stations? Because they're not profitable to build on their own. As another posted mentioned above, they are enormously expensive and will become another financial black hole in our wallets. Not enough people own electric cars in the US for this to be feasible outside of select cities.

When this country transitions to plug-in Prius and Volt-type automobiles in the near future, then such charging stations may become a better idea. In the meantime, I'll keep my tax dollars. Thank you very much.

Ken - a valuable role that government can play is to use a very, very, tiny, tiny, tiny portion of our tax dollars to fund start-up and trial projects. Just like the government funding basic research.

Once the concept has been proven, the major bugs worked out, and demand demonstrated the market will take over.

That's how we got wind farms. The government largely funded them through tax credits. Now private business is doing the funding because there is money to be made.

That's how we got nuclear reactors. The government largely funded them with our tax dollars. Now private business is walking away from them as they just don't make financial sense.

Thats very true that China now depands on coal plents for most if its electricity but they have a very stong program and ambitions toward nuclear reactors. they are also working on the development of the super save Pebble bed modular reactors and successfully tested a thermal runaway on a scaled down version. Reaction just showdown do to physics involved.

China wants 100 Westinghouse reactors
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_575073.html

nice video of the Pebble bed modular reactor shutdown

http://cdn.dayport.com/tbtvimg/htm/tbtvplayer_2004.htm?Art_ID=14054&tf=tbtviewer_2004.tpl

Bob,

There's no concept to be proven in the case of recharge stations. The technology is extremely simple. The problem is the business model. Private companies are only willing to install these things in areas that have a steady supply of electric cars, which is pretty much limited to retirement communities with a lot of golf carts.

Such a program may be only a small cost by itself, but you add up a bunch of similar programs and the combined cost rises very rapidly. Before you know it, you have a $500 billion per year budget deficit.

Anyway, it all goes back to the concept of limited government. That's too complex a discussion to have in a little comment box, but it is important to the preservation of our liberty that Congress not be given the general budgetary authority to spend money on whatever pet project it wants. Have Congress set up mechanisms instead, such as a tax on pollution, and then let the market sort out the best alternatives.

The price for these charging stations is ridiculous. It's an outlet. I have four in my bedroom and it didn't cost $160,000. Why do people feel the need to complicate this. I used to live in northern Canada where every parking space had an outlet so people could plug in their block heaters. It's not new technology. It's crap like this that will prevent electric cars from gaining popularity.
On another note, if these are placed all over the cities, people will be pluggin in during the day time increasing the demand and the price for energy during peak hours. One of the perks of electric vehicles is supposed to be charging at night when power is less expensive.

Yet another reason the US needs to get with the program and find better ways to fuel our cars. We don't need to be the only country on oil while the rest of the world moves on to better forms of energy.

$44,000 for a 220volt plug! tats ok as long as its got made in USA written on it!

This technology already does exist in the United States and it is already being used for many material handling purposes. Not many consumers are familiar with fast-charging, which has the capabilities to charge most on-road vehicles in 10 minutes. Yes, ten minutes. Look into a company called ETEC (etecevs.com), they've been fast-charging since the FIRST electric vehilces.

Dear Bloggers:

The answer to OPEC is the electric vehicles at http://www.energynews.gr

What we need is an International Public Prosecutor Intervention.

Thank you.

now, it's has been contributed on somewhere

I would say good on you China, its a magnificent step forward, at lest you start the move and good luck.Be optimistic with a new green world.