Blauw oog voor Steven Chu

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6 oktober 2009 | Tikje pijnlijk toch. Nobelprijswinnaar Fysica Steven Chu moest juist vandaag zijn eerste echte politieke nederlaag lijden als energieminister van Obama.

‘The U.S. Congress is giving Energy Secretary Steven Chu moneyto launch three of his beloved Bell Labs.’ Maar dat wil zeggen:’Congress poured semi-cold water on the idea,’ aldusScienceInsider.

‘In his proposed budget for 2010, Chu wanted $480 million tostart eight Energy Innovation Hubs, or “Bell Lablets,” as he called them,to stimulate research in areas ranging from solar energy to newmaterials for the electric grid. Each would receive $35 million toget started, and $25 million more in each of the following 4years.

Last week. Conferees to the Energy and Water spending billapproved funding for three of the centers, two in energy efficiencyand renewable energy and one in nuclear energy. Its skepticism wasno surprise, having been included this summer in reportsaccompanying the spending bills in the House of Representatives andSenate.

In August Chu admitted to a mediocre job of selling the idea andovercoming congressional concerns that the concept was poorlythought out and not well-coordinated with other energy research atthe Department of Energy. House appropriators were particularlyunkind to the idea, noting: ‘A new set of centers with overlappingresearch goals risks adding confusion and redundancy to theexisting fleet of research and development initiatives.’