The Hydrogen/Next Energy Economy and SC

[CorgiMatt]

The General Assembly has pledged $15 million over the next three yearts to lure in hydrogen business to the state. Specifically those that will work with Carolina, Clemson, and the Savannah River National Laboratory. The bill is known as "The Hydrogen Infrastructure Development Act [and] is expected to provide the state with 40,000 jobs by 2020 and $10 billion in capital investment."

Gov. Sanford vetoed this act because he thinks that we're putting all of our eggs in the hydrogen basket, which is an unproven technology.

Here's the article from the Herald-Journal

I think that we need to show commitment to this technology if we want to get in on the ground floor. That said, we shouldn't be putting all of our eggs in this particular basket. Does anyone know of any other areas that we are investing in as a state?

[Spartan]

^No, but it just brings up the point that there should be more things that we are investing money in than just hydrogen.

[GvilleSC]

^No, but it just brings up the point that there should be more things that we are investing money in than just hydrogen.

[krazeeboi]

Even though the lack of economic diversification is cause for concern when it comes to investment, at least in this case we're more research-oriented in our efforts as a state. This isn't the typical incentives-for-manufacturing-jobs case here.

With our developing aerospace cluster, that should be capitalized on as well.

[Spartan]

Does the automotive industry count? CU-ICAR keeps coming with the announcements. Who knows, perhaps all of the lured automotive companies will yield some great assistance and support for the hydrogen research. Seems logical. But then again, it kind of qualifies as putting your eggs in one basket as we search for alternative fuels.

[goodbye]

I actually agree with Sanford's concern about this industry. The example in Iceland shows just how difficult it can be, and that is a very small nation.

[Spartan]

That doesn't mean we shouldn't invest in it though, just that we should invest in other things too.

[krazeeboi]

I think the automotive industry is a bit different, since it is well-established. We're just going the research route with it, which includes hydrogen but goes beyond that.

I guess the appeal with the hydrogen industry is that we could potentially be a leader there (the same goes for automotive research). That won't be the case with biotech, nanotech, etc.

[Spartan]

Being a leader in something that has so much potential is appealing.

I forgot about nanotechnology. There is some investment there, and while we may not be a leader, we coudl certainly attract a fair share of that industry to this state. We don't have to be a leader to play in the game.

[krazeeboi]

^That's true, and the same goes for biotech in a certain sense.

[Captain Worley]

I think that nanotechnology should get more money than hydrogen research. It'll have further reaching implications, and is more feasible.

[gs3]

I think that nanotechnology should get more money than hydrogen research. It'll have further reaching implications, and is more feasible.

[krazeeboi]

^Post #22 outlines a few advantages we have over other states. Because the industry as a whole is in its infancy, it's still anybody's game. If I were to use the biotech industry for comparative purposes, I'd be satisfied if we were a Raleigh-Durham instead of a Boston.