Not sure if this should go here or FHOP. Beacon Power bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra | Reuters
I voted for Obama. I am not planning to, in the upcoming election. The plugin tax credit is base on the battery size. It has nothing to do with efficiency, petroleum usage (or the lack of) or the tailpipe emission. EVs get the same amount as plugin hybrid because it is capped at 16 kWh (Volt size).
In the meantime China, Japan and India are backing solar development. Let's just keep burning coal; it's clean per the industry, just like "fracked" natural gas and oil.
It's about long term energy usage. It's for two developments: - Batteries - Encouraging the PEV market If it were just about petroleum usage they'd go gung ho for diesel efficiency and NG.
It sounds nothing like solyndra. The government now may own a flywheel power buffering plant though. Let's face it, the US is in much better energy shape than China, Japan, and India. The US solar users benefit from chinese cost reductions, but citizens were unlikely to benefit from Solyndra, only the owners and politicians. The important thing is to learn the lessons of Solyndra and improve the loan program, instead of forgiving what at best seems like incompetance in giving away large chunks of money. I don't think the Beacon power or EV tax credit fall into the same bad policies. Diesel is petroleum and the us does spend a great deal on increasing fuel efficiency. Diesel causes more pollutants, see the new bmw clean diesel commercial, and thus is not a favorite of the environmental lobby. Increasing efficiency does not have the potential to reduce oil dependence nearly as much as electrification. This project was about grid buffering for adding renewables, not plug-ins.
