Martin Rosenberg | Sep 24, 2010

Bob Rose, of the Breakthrough Technology Institute, says that Korea intends to see 2 million fuel cells in residential homes by 2030. And the fuel cell business could generate 3 million jobs in the next two decades.
Gia Schneider, the chief executive of Natel Energy, says that 70,000 megawatts of low-head, low-hanging hydroelectric power potential is ready to be captured in the United States.
Sean O'Neill, president of Clean Renewable Energy Coalition, says that 100 technologies are being studied around the world that could capture the energy in waves and tides - and 40 of them are being researched in the United States.
The three, and several dozen others, spoke at a recent daylong forum and expo on renewables and energy efficiency in a caucus room of the U.S. House of Representatives. They were on hand to tell members of Congress what policies and financial resources are needed to overhaul our energy economy.
Since their appearance several weeks back, Congress continues to struggle with a way to address energy policy in a meaningful way while election day approaches. Lately, there have been reports that Congress may try to tackle passage of a national renewable portfolio standard.
Scott Sklar, president of the Stella Group, addressed the forum and cited a study that boldly claims that by 2030 we can cut our energy demand by one-third with existing technology and meet all our electricity needs without using coal, oil or natural gas.
A handful of members of Congress were impressed. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, said the work of energy independence is vital to our national security. "This is a Sputnik moment, folks," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) mustering some passion.
If it is a Sputnik moment, there are troubling signs that it will be wasted. Our economy remains in shambles and there is little appetite for a significant ramp-up in research spending on energy by the private or public sectors.
Many feel that the government should do more.Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the policy director of its Metropolitan Policy Program, writes that Washington needs to find and dedicate as much as $25 billion a year to energy research.
However, he observes, "Now, we're spending only about $4 billion or $5 billion a year, which is only about one-fifth the level of the early 1980s as a share of the nation's GDP."
The federal government spends $30 billion a year for health research but just $3 billion on clean energy research.
How stark is this Sputnik moment? In the House caucus room, Todd Foley, with the American Council on Renewable Energy, reported that while the United States last year invested $18.5 billion in clean energy, our friends in China managed to about double our bet - investing $34.5 billion.
And Bill Shank, founder of Energy Transitions, reported that by 2020 there will be 600,000 vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells and 1,000 new refueling stations to serve them - in Germany.