FOOTNOTES (Cont'd.) page 11 13/ General Electric Co., Solar Heating & Cooling of Buildings, Phase 0 Report, May 1974. 14/ Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, note 4, supra, Fold-out '0'. 15/ National Science Foundation, as cited in "But Not Soon," The New York Times Magazine, March 16, 1975. 16/ Federal Energy Administration, Final Task Force Report on Solar Energy, "Project Independence," November 1974. CONVERSION TABLE (DEFINITION, COMPARISONS) 1 British thermal unit (Btu.) the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 1 Btu. = 1,055 Joules = 252 small calories. 1 barrel (bbl.) of oil = 5,800,000 Btu. = 6,119,000,000 joules. 1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1,000 Btu. 1 quad 1 trillion cu. ft. of natural gas. 1 quad = 293,083,200,000 kwh. 1 quad 38,461,580 tons of coal = 105,302 tons coal per day for a year. = 1 quad = the capacity of the Alaska Pipeline for 108 days. 3.4 quads the capacity of the Alaska Pipeline for a year. 1 quad the energy spent by a sub-compact car going 181 billion miles. 1 quad = the energy spent by a luxury car going 71 billion miles. page 12 STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS J. MCINTYRE, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator MCINTYRE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These hearings on solar energy, that we are beginning today, are designed to do a number of things. First, we all know that the United States is increasing its dependence on imported oil that could have continuing security problems for us as the years progress. The rush to import must be cut. Second, we are a nation of small businesses that should remain a nation of small- and medium-sized businesses. Our small business community often has the ability and the wherewithal to solve problems that would baffle the monolithic, bureaucratic corporations or the Government. Therefore, it is important that we focus in on the ability of small business to help us out of the energy shortages that we face. Our small business solar energy community, numbering at least 50 companies and probably more, is equipped to help the Nation out of its security problems and out of the fossil fuel age. A questionnaire that I circulated to many of these companies, asking for input for our hearings, has proved to me that there are small businessmen in the country who are qualified to develop solar heating and cooling.' However, there are stumbling blocks. We will hear about several of these today from our witnesses. They have faced problems with the large corporate giants, they have run into problems with the Federal research establishment, and they have been dissuaded from advancing solar energy because of its seemingly high capital expense and overblown technical problems. There is no doubt that solar energy can provide home heating at reasonable costs. The initial capital investment is higher than installing a hot-air or hot-water heating system, but the operating costs are virtually nil. Home hot-water heating, operating around the world, can be installed for about $500, according to one of our witnesses this morning. On a recent trip to the Middle East, I noticed that home hot-water heating is in widespread use. What is equally interesting is that you do not have to have a tropical climate for solar home heating or solar hot water heating. Solar heating is in use in New England and is saving about 50 percent on home heating costs. In New Hampshire, for instance, that means that the cost of home heating could be cut from $1,000 per year to $400 per year. And if hot water heating is included, that would lower the electricity cost as well. Until recently, large corporations denigrated the ability of the Sun to provide energy for the country. Even now, it is mainly the companies that provide copper and glass that can be used in solar collection equipment that have interests in solar energy. There are also oil companies, such as Shell Oil Co., getting interested in power from the Sun. But the Government, interested as it now claims in developing solar energy to the fullest, has been late in getting into the game. And, despite statements from the Energy Research and Development Administration, the emphasis on development of the sunoutside those specifically charged with its development-is minimal. For instance, the Department of the Interior published a report in February called "Energy Perspectives." This report is a compilation of facts and figures that provides a study of energy in use in the world and the reserves. This report, though, projects energy use through 1985 and even beyond to 1990. It makes only one mention of solar energy use in energy projects through that year-in the R. & D. budget of the Federal Government. Second, the Project Independence report, published in November 1974. It included only a six-page summary of solar energy.2 Third, a report called "U.S. Energy Prospects: An Engineering Viewpoint," put out by the National Academy of Engineering in May 1974, a year ago, whose Chairman was Robert Seamans, who now heads the Energy Research and Development Administration, made no mention of solar energy.3 When you consider that the Federal Government is spending over half a billion dollars this year on nuclear research, and has spent over $5 billion since 1954 on developing atomic power, and it is now producing only 6 percent of our national electric power, is it not strange that there has been no real solar research program for all those years? Companies in this country tend to get bogged down in fancy technologies. Nuclear power, for instance, looks simple on diagrams, but it is infinitely complex. Solar energy, on the contrary, if used for home and water heating, is very simple. It is a few pipes, a few vents, fans, and glass. No cores, no emergency cooling systems, no expensive controls, no computers. So simple, it never caught on. One businessman in my State, Robert Chadwick, wrote about a project he is developing that uses the wind-a form of solar energy— and solar energy itself for electricity and home heating. Further, a group of architects, called Total Environmental Action, in Harrisville, N.H., have been developing solar energy under grants from the American Institute of Architects.* They have designed houses for four regions of the country to save energy and use sunpower. In Manchester, N.H., for instance, they estimate that for an average 1,500 square-feet house, a consumer can save about $600 a year by installing energy conservation insulation and solar heating equipment. The total expenditure to cut this amount of money off the heating bill for fuel oil is between $2,000 and $6,000, they say, depending on the size of the house and the insulation and equipment needed. The time has come to bring the Federal Government into the mainstream by making sure, through our hearings and subsequent hearings, that it understands the importance of solar energy-a renewable, capital intensive, but readily available energy resource. I should like to make just one point before we go to our witnesses: The American public expects solar energy soon. 1 Department of Interior, "Energy Perspectives." February 1975. Westinghouse Electric Co., which did a phase zero report for the National Science Foundation on the development of solar energy, found that the American public is well aware of the possibility of solar development, and a significant sector would consider buying solar equipment, even if it is more expensive than existing equipment. Mr. Chairman, I would like to include in the record a tabulation of the questionnaires that we asked small business solar companies to fill out, and additional material as the hearings progress. [The above document referred to follows:] 4. TABULATION OF QUESTIONNAIRES SENT BY SENATOR MCINTYRE TO SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING FIRMS ON APRIL 25, 1975 A.--ESTIMATES OF SOLAR COLLECTOR MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY AND EXPECTED SALES, TOTAL AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS RESPONDING 1 Assume present plant capacity, accessibility to raw materials and labor, and optimum market demand. 2 For the purposes of this survey, a small business is defined as a company which together with any affiliates reported less than $10,000,000 in gross sales. Note: Figures in parentheses indicate the number of firms responding to the question. B.-SIZE OF FIRMS RESPONDING TO SENATOR MCINTYRE'S QUESTIONNAIRE AND TYPES OF SOLAR ENERGY Senator MCINTYRE. The first witness will be Jerry D. Plunkett, president of Materials Consultants, Inc., Denver, Colo.1 We welcome you here this morning, Dr. Plunkett. You have a statement for us. Please give us the benefit of your experiences over the past 10 or 12 years. You are not only a Ph. D., but also an inventor, is that right? 1 A résumé of Jerry D. Plunkett can be found in app. III-A, p. 872. |