I found the following extremely interesting from your link:
Quote:
|
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates there would be no need to increase electrical-generation capacity until plug-ins constitute nearly 85 percent of the nation's vehicles. That's because most charging can take place during off-peak hours.
|
If that's right, then that's astounding. Are they really saying that there's that much inefficiency built into the grid and the power generation system right now? Enough that our existing and unused or underused capacity could replace the energy used by 85% of the nation's vehicle fleet? Wow!
On the subject of Bush, I find myself in an odd position. On the one hand I want to rail at the guy for once again leaving the needful things for tomorrow. People should do it, yes, he's saying, but not until he's out of office, not until the PHEVs are 'commercially viable,' not with the existing technologies, hybrids, or more efficient cars that are currently out on the roads. In other words, he's passing off responsibility, killing time, twiddling his thumbs on what we can do now and waiting for the Next Big Thing to come around the bend before doing any of the many things he could be doing in the meantime. It basically becomes an excuse for not having done his job on this issue for the last six years.
But on the other hand, I feel like I should applaud this. At least he's being forward-thinking. We all know that hybrids aren't the END of this story, and that more research, more technology, and more solutions will need to be developed. It's good that he's getting behind something that is so practical, so plausible, so... within reach! At least it isn't the hydrogen car thing all over again.
I don't know. His plans for ethanol research and for better CAFE standards down the road are not BAD steps, they're just too slow, too little, not urgent enough. If he'd proposed them in his very first SOTU, they would have been something to cheer about, perhaps- and an indication of better things to come from him, a real commitment for change. Coming at this point, after his many years of non-action and counter-productive actions, I just can't be very happy about it, as much as I'd like to be.
Executive order for Plug-In
