U.S. Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) visited with automotive and heating/ventilation/air condition students at Delaware Technical and Community College’s Owens Campus in Georgetown on Tuesday afternoon, speaking to the group of aspiring mechanics and technicians about the potential of alternative energy sources and how Congress — and the students themselves — can help pave the way for “green” technology in the U.S.
Referencing rising gasoline costs, concerns about climate change and limited domestic natural resources, Castle told the students, “We have a problem in the U.S. in terms of energy, and we need to begin to address it in some way.
“We have a responsibility to seize hold of this issue and do something about it, sooner rather than later,” he said.
Castle noted that the relationship of the U.S. with other nations also plays a part in its growing crisis over natural resources.
“If we can’t get it here, we’re going to need to buy it somewhere,” he said, adding that the U.S. can’t expect Arab nations or those in South and Central America to just give the country a price break on the resources they produce.
“I hate to think about what gasoline for our cars will cost five or 15 years from now, when it costs $3 a gallon now,” Castle said.
The Congressman also pointed to potential problems with carbon-dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases, and he said the resource issue also links to national security.
“Do we want to be dependent on the Middle East?” he asked rhetorically, suggesting that changes in the direction of self-dependency, consumption or elsewhere — including at the Congressional level — will be necessary in the future.
More locally, Castle pointed to the proposed Bluewater Wind wind-farm project off the coast of Rehoboth Beach.
“That would take care of some of the energy needs of Delmarva Power and many local people,” he said, while acknowledging that off-shore wind power is still new to the U.S. and that cost issues have been raised by Delmarva Power about the proposal.
“I don’t want to suggest that Delmarva Power is wrong,” he said, “but I think they would support it if you just look at where we are in 15 to 30 years.” He said costs of wind power could be expected to remain level over time, while other sources will naturally rise in cost.
“Delaware should be proud to be one of the first states to do that,” Castle said of the off-shore wind farm.
On the front of local innovation in alternative energy, Castle pointed to work by General Electric at its Newark facility on solar panels, as well as work by the University of Delaware.
Castle said he’d recently visited Rehoboth-area car dealer C.P. Diver, where solar panels had been installed on the roof of the business, saving the company money over the long haul by producing about $1,000 worth of electricity each month.
“In six or seven years, it will pay for itself,” Castle emphasized. “And, after that, it will make money for them. It shows what can be done.”
Castle said education of the public about the financial benefit of solar power — as well as its “green” factor — was vital to encourage its increased adoption. “Businesses and new homes can start to do it,” he said.
Castle also pointed to increasing innovation — inside Delaware and elsewhere — with a hydrogen-powered bus in operation at the University of Delaware and General Motors working to develop other hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles. He credited Delaware’s DuPont for innovation on bio-fuels, where industry is starting to look beyond corn-based bio-fuels toward other types of biomass as a source.
The Congressman even directed attention to an energy source that some are only now looking at as an “alternative” to fossil fuels: nuclear power. Citing a low number of deaths related directly to nuclear power generation, Castle said issues such as transportation and storage of nuclear waste needed to be addressed but that nuclear power should not be disregarded.
Castle said Tuesday that the energy bill currently before the U.S. Congress was designed to deal with many of the concerns that have been raised about traditional energy sources in recent years, including measures such as a shift of funding to alternative energy sources and tax credits for their investigation and use.
Included in the bill on the Senate side are new Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFÉ) standards that would require auto manufacturers to increase fuel economy of passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks to as much as 40 mpg by 2020.
“The good thing is they’re talking,” Castle said of car manufacturers, who have resisted legislatively-imposed CAFÉ standard increases and argued that passenger trucks and SUVs should be held to a lower standard.
Castle also pointed to “cap and trade” legislation that is aimed to help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from industry by allowing less-polluting companies to sell credits for pollution allowances to companies that can’t meet base goals.
“This will drive them all to become more efficient,” he said, adding that Delaware is one of 24 states to require some level of renewable energy to be in use by 2020.
In Delaware, that level is 20 percent, leading to the Bluewater Wind proposal for an off-shore wind farm. Castle said Congress’ energy bill — currently in negotiations between the House and Senate — calls for 20 percent also, while some have argued for a lower, 15 percent target.
Castle said Tuesday that individuals should also be looking at what they can do to help with energy issues, such as considering alternative energy sources for their homes or doing things as simple as changing from conventional incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones.
“All of us have to pay attention to this,” he said, asserting that the entire process of shifting to more renewable sources of energy will go “hand in glove,” with costs for consumers dropping, as more alternative sources of energy are researched and produced.
“I think this will happen gradually,” he said of the incorporation of alternative energy in to everyday lives. “No one wants to sacrifice. We can do it gradually, perhaps so gradually that we won’t even notice it.”
Castle said that, along with possible legislative action to encourage companies to investigate and employ alternative energy sources, he believes programs like those at Del-Tech can pioneer in various industries, following on the model of the UD hydrogen bus.
He suggested investigating partnerships with corporations that could move toward training mechanics in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and other systems using renewable energy sources.
Beyond that kind of training, the Congressman said he believes the U.S. should be looking at again becoming the innovator of new technologies.
“The U.S. has always been the innovator,” Castle said to the students. “If we can create the next be thing in these energy standards, that will create jobs for you.”