From: Eirikur Hallgrimsson (eh@mad.scientist.com)
Date: Tue May 15 2001 - 11:08:03 PDT
Harp on this long enough and even I will find something to say.
*Because* no one has found a way to make a profit.
Is the government mandated to pursue general industrial research?
I don't think so. Even 'encouraging the useful arts' wasn't accompanied
by financial incentives.
The oil hegemony won't be displaced until someone has a product that
works and can be manufactured and sold at a profit. To do that, it has
to lower the consumer's total cost per watt. Manufactured, sold, and
installed/maintained, it has to be cheaper than efficient centralized
generation using oil or coal--which is proving to be a lot harder than
making working prototypes.
I had stock in that proton-membrane process outfit, IPO from Wit
Capital. Made a few dollars, but I don't think they are near
production.
Eirikur
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 17 2001 - 15:16:57 PDT