Green news harvest: DOE's Chu on nukes, fuel cells

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

• Q & A: Steven Chu - Technology Review
  Energy Secretary Steven Chu talks about coming up with a new nuclear-power and waste management strategy and why hydrogen vehicles have four strikes against them.
• Waxman predicts committee passage as details emerge on climate, energy bill - GreenWire
  A House energy and climate bill makes progress through compromises, although it's not a done deal. Latest draft lowers carbon emissions targets and renewable electricity mandate while devising a system for dealing with emissions allowances.
• Husk Insulation Wins $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize: Building Better Refrigerators from Rice Husks - Xconomy
  The hottest green technologies popping out of universities these days are insulation from rice husks and energy-harvesting shock absorbers.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu speaking at MIT on Tuesday
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)
• Semiconductor Technology: The Potential to Revolutionize U.S. Energy Productivity - Press Release
  Yes, electronics consume huge amounts of juice but an energy-efficiency advocacy group argues that semiconductors are essential to efficiency gains.
• PG&E and BrightSource Sign Record Solar Power Deal - Press release
  Pacific Gas & Electric re-ups its purchase of solar thermal systems which will produce 1.3 gigawatts of electricity.
• Greentech's Top Ten Acquisition Targets - Greentech Media
  Semi-educated guesses on which green-tech companies could be gobbled up by larger brethren.

[Axil128]

DOE Secretary Chu has said ?we?re looking at reactors that have a high-energy neutron spectrum that can actually allow you to burn down the long-lived actinide waste. [Note: Actinides include plutonium, which can be dangerous for 100,000 years.] These are fast neutron reactors. There's others: a resurgence of hybrid solutions of fusion fission where the fusion would impart not only energy, but again creates high-energy neutrons that can burn down the long-lived actinides.?


Chu has got a big political problem here. If he uses molten salt reactors to consume Light Water Reactor wastes he will produce too much electric power for the US to consume. He can?t keep up with the Light Water Reactor waste stream because the molten salt reactors will produce 33 times more power then the current Light Water Reactor fleet. Why, because they are 33 times more efficient. What will the green power people do? The greens will have no power market! Of course fusion hybrids are even worse! We could power America for 1000 years just on the nuclear wastes we have already produced.