So who was clapping, i'm not...

At the Clean Energy Venture Summit, James Woolsey, the former director of the CIA and currently an alternative energy advocate, received a standing ovation when he said hydrogen research was a distraction and largely a waste of time. Instead, he, among others, favor alternative transportation concepts like plug-in hybrids or clean diesel.

It amazes me the lack of vision at such high levels of government. Status quo maintains short-term profit for someone, but not a long-term energy evolution for the rest of us. To Woolsey's credit, he does promote conservation and reducing the use of foreign oil.

During a 2003 State of the Uinion Speech, President Push proposed a $1.2 billion program to help build the hydrogen infrastructure two years after ridiculing Al Gore’s proposal that we replace the internal combustion engine with new technologies (msnbc.com) Four years later, the hydrogen push seems to be driven more by the private sector and consumer interest..

Imagine an energy infrastructure where many systems derived hydrogen from many patents/methods and raw sources. A monopoly no longer controls the market. If a non-oil related energy source became viable taking just 5% of the gasoline market reducing demand, the price of gasoline and the it's value on the commodities market would begin a free fall.

Some interesting developments by people with hydrogen vision...