I’ve been corresponding with an acquaintance who works at the National Science Foundation. This guy (“People call me Jim”) is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. And he asked me to note that he is speaking from his own personal views, and not on behalf of the NSF or the U.S. government.

Jim has a background in applied mathematics, electrical engineering and neural networks. He’s been involved in energy research since the 1970s. In terms of long-term knowledge of U.S. energy policy, Jim is a national asset.

Jim is an acknowledged expert in the fields of electricity generation and transmission. This includes deep knowledge of new technology in the arenas of solar and wind power. One of Jim’s biggest concerns is the on-again, off-again pace in the field of U.S. energy research and development.

New Energy System Research

Here’s a short version of what Jim has to say about what is going on with the development of new kinds of energy systems in the U.S.:

“We keep encountering these delays in all the pioneering technology developments. If it’s not funding, it’s something like access to sites. If you get the funding and access, then you see these shortages of skilled people or some critical pieces of equipment.

“And it’s NOT just a matter of a two-year delay in being able to use solar to crank out electricity, or massively displace carbon dioxide — which has become the latest and greatest ‘selling point’ for a lot of projects. With some of these delays, we risk throwing key development companies into bankruptcy. And then these firms might never recover. If we don’t use it, we’re going to lose it. This happens more times than you might think.”

US Energy Politics and Policy

Here’s what Jim thinks about the politics and policy of energy in the U.S.:

“We need to depoliticize most of the energy debate. The energy reality out there is changing, and changing fast. If you have not thought about the ‘energy issue’ in, say, five years, then your thinking process is probably obsolete. If you are frozen in some past that you learned years ago, then you are part of the problem.

“At the same time, we need policy stability and long-term focus within the national energy evolution. Are we going to produce large amounts of energy in the future? If not, how do we plan to run the country? To run the economy? Or are we just going to blow down what we have in the installed base? If we want to just live off the past energy heritage, we should also ask the band to practice playing ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee.”

“Things are changing fast, but we still have to steer the ship. Otherwise, we’re going to just hit the rocks, and it’s going to kill us as a nation.