Energy activists snipe at rivals

Washington


But with limited government research-and-development money available for ways to replace oil, any gain for one technology is a loss for the others. So the criticism is flying in all directions.

Solar energy? A retired University of Connecticut physicist who advocates increased development of nuclear power calls solar energy “a fraud.”

Ethanol? Some critics say that at best it will swap food for fuel, at worst it will use more energy in the process than it yields.

Rechargeable batteries for autos? Some call the current technology too expensive and environmentally suspect.

Hydrogen? One advocate of ethanol fuel recently declared that the dream of a hydrogen-based economy is a “hoax.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution