<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 1:47 PM, Jim Leach <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jleach@danatech.net">jleach@danatech.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">It is a sad story to be sure. I don't know anything
about the details but one must not condemn the use of government sponsored
research and development money just because Range failed. Many other
researchers that were able to get government grants succeed and society has
been rewarded for it. Keep in mind that is how the U.S. got to the
moon.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span></span> </div></div></blockquote><div><br>i agree this is a really hard problem to solve. clearly an ambitious funding structure for basic reserach has all sorts of positive effects. let's remember that all of us have benefited tremendously from srel and nrel money that produced all the bef books and general science cycles on which we base much of what we do today<br>
<br>when the govt get involved in choosing end game winners in the deployment of the tech that results, things often go awry. but then again most of us only have anecdotes to assess this. though admitedly the anecodtes seems to always tally to a story like what we see here. dynamotive is the last high profile flyer that went down, after being the best chance to prove a proposition held dear to local hearts (in that case flash pyrolysis to useful bio oil)<br>
<br>again and agin we see that harvesting vc and govt money is a very different proposition than harvesting energy. what looks great in a power point presentation is very different than what works in metal and materials. this seems to only get more distorted as the dollar amounts get larger.<br>
<br>if nothing else, the govt money produces some well explored examples of how not to do it. that helps the non funded and much more disciplined to try and find a narrow path through this very difficult mine field. i think we all watch and learn a tremendous amount about how not to do things from these high profile failures. and even in failure, most of the "failed" entities regroup some how and try again, often to better results. it is still way better than doing nothing i think. and can we all get our checks too please? <br>
<br>less cynically, the sbir program seems to do much better in identifying early stage endeavors with value, and helping them step up in growth. the money is much smaller, so it is gets less distorted by the larger scale financial speculators.<br>
<br>the best thing the govt could do is let fossil fuels slowly rise to actual market value, and externalize all the various supports and subsidies we direct towards them. the price signal will likely do most of the rest of what is needed. <br>
<br>but that is never going to happen. so we'll likely continue subsidizing both sides of the problem, and continue producing more of the messy ends we currently enjoy.<br><br>j<br><br>ps- remember too that the govt amazingly saved gm on a loan that no private entity would have ever extended. the tarp balance sheet turned out way better than anyone would have guessed. range fuels? not quite as good it seems. at least the feds are still batting above zero . . . <br>
<br><br><br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US">
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Best Regards,</font> </span></div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font> </div>
<div align="left"><font color="#04c6db" face="Arial"><b>JAMES T. LEACH,
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<div> <br><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Jim Mason<br>Website: <a href="http://www.whatiamupto.com">http://www.whatiamupto.com</a><br>
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