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During an Illinois Chamber of Commerce meeting last month, a
panel discussion focused on the future of energy.
Chamber CEO Todd Maisch sees the possibility that hydrogen
powered vehicles may leapfrog electric vehicles. Paul Segal,
chief executive officer of LS Power, sees hydrogen power more
economical in other areas.
“I think there are going to be a lot of uses for clean hydrogen
in what you would think about as base load, 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, type application,” Segal said.
The issue of carbon sequestration was also discussed. Balvy
Bhogal-Mitro, a vice president at CITGO, said there is a space
for that developing technology.
“It’s all going to depend on what’s the full cost from
collection all the way to sequestration and I know the the $85
per ton of credit will be taken into consideration in the
economics as well,” she said.
Segal said there are a lot of areas to focus investment,
including battery storage and high capacity electric
transmission, as well as flexible fuels. But, achieving certain
clean energy targets could get costly.
“The hardest problems are going to be when we get deep into the
energy transition,” Segal said. “We can go to 70 to 80%
renewable at price levels that will probably be relatively
affordable. It’s getting from 70 to 100 where prices will really
scale.”
Illinois law aims to close down coal fired power plants by 2045.
There are also goals to get 1 million electric vehicles on
Illinois roadways by 2030. Those who purchase an electric
vehicle in Illinois can apply for a $4,000 taxpayer funded
rebate.
Segal said there has to be an aim at other clean resources
beyond limited sun or wind to bridge the gap.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and
other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of
award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning
Newsfeed out of Springfield.
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