U.S. Missing Opportunity to Recycle Vast Amounts of Energy
On Wednesday I attended an event on Green Technology sponsored by the Midwest Council of the American Electronics Association. Vincent Albanese, SVP of Air Pollution Control at Fuel Tech, a company that produces air pollution control devices for large power generators and heavy industry, shared some startling information and insight:
- Congress is missing opportunities to save energy because of its narrow focus on achieving carbon-emission goals thirty years in the future.
- Older manufacturing companies have no incentive to clean up their plants because the EPA’s New Source Review rule requires that with any physical changes made, companies have to add all new technology.
New source review sounds good to us environmentalists, but in practice it makes rust belt companies avoid upgrades in their current operations that would save vast amounts of energy, because of the expense involved in completely revamping their entire operations.
Some environmentalists feel strongly that companies should reduce their impact on the environment because it’s the right thing to do - going green because it benefits the bottom line somehow doesn’t count. Personally (and paraphrasing Oleta Adams) I don’t care how you get there, just get there if you can.