Remarks of
Robert S. Kripowicz
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Fossil Energy
at the
Dedication of the Molten Carbonate
Fuel Cell Power Plant
in
Santa Clara, CA
June 3, 1996

It is a pleasure for me to represent the Department of Energy here today. I know that many of you were expecting to see Secretary O'Leary at this podium this afternoon. I know that the Secretary fully expected to be here. In fact, she had been anticipating this event since the first day back in March when we told her about the upcoming milestone that we are celebrating here today.

We were seated in the auditorium at our headquarters building in Washington, preparing to announce our 1997 budgets to the news media the next day in a Departmental press conference. The Secretary, as is her custom, was listening to our practice sessions. And, also as is her custom, she kept interrupting to admonish us to "get to the point"...to "emphasize results." She kept stressing that we "have to tell the American people what their tax dollars are producing." "Tell them about the world-class successes coming out of our energy program."

Well, we in the Fossil Energy program had anticipated the Secretary's advice, and we were prepared.

When it came our time to talk about the investment of taxpayer dollars in fossil energy research, our first chart listed "World Class Firsts" -- achievements coming from the investment of Federal dollars that have helped this country maintain its global leadership in technology.

And heading the list we showed the Secretary that day -- and the news media the next day -- was the project you see behind us. Quite simply, we told the Secretary back then, that a day would come this summer -- we hadn't pinned down the exact date yet -- when this Nation would inauguarate a new era in electric power generation. It would officially commemorate a day in which a fundamentally new way to generate electricity would cross over the threshold from what is possible to what is real.

Think for a moment, how many of you could say -- before today -- that you were present on the day a revoluntionary new option for energy production was first introduced to the Nation?

Those days don't come along many times in our lifetimes. But today is one of those days.

And I can tell you that no Secretary of Energy would want to miss this day -- certainly not Hazel O'Leary ...certainly not someone who has stressed so often the need to show results to the American people....results like the one we are celebrating today. But unfortunately, the Secretary's schedule is not always her own. And today, her schedule is not one that she could control.

But let me emphasize....her loss is certainly my gain. This is a ceremony I would not have missed for anything, and I feel very privileged to be here on the podium with individuals like Bernie Baker and Don Glenn....individuals who have had a laser focus on this day for the past two decades....and have had the foresight, the perseverance, and the steadfast determination to make this day possible.

This day has a special significance for me. For many years in my former job, I sat in a small, crowded office on Capital Hill -- appropriations staff offices are not very plush, believe me -- and considered the pros-and-cons of federal funding for new energy projects. Every year for the past decade or so, I listened to Don and Bernie tell me about the potential of molten carbonate fuel cell technology. Some years I would visit their research and production facilities in Connecticut to get a first-hand look at what they were saying.

Some years, I saw significant progress. The technical advancements would be great, and the success of carbonate fuel cells would seem to be just around the corner. Other years, there would be setbacks, and we would all be reminded that the development of a revolutionary technology was not going to happen overnight.

But always, without exception, what they showed me in Connecticut and what they told me in Washington was always accompanied by an unfailing sense of drive...a sense of purpose...a belief that no technical obstacle was too difficult to overcome. Nothing would stand in their way that couldn't be overcome by creativity and determination.

It was those traits that Bernie Baker drew upon to found his company in 1970. It was those traits that persisted through every meeting, every briefing, every Congressional hearing that we held over the last 10 to 15 years on this technology. And it is those traits that have brought us here today.

Bernie, it is entrepreneurs like you who are the fabric of this country and the reason for its technological greatness.

Today, the product of Bernie's vision is itself a vision of the future. It is a preview of the 21st century. It demonstrates that we have within our technological grasp the capability to produce new sources of energy without endangering our environment.

Americans time and time again have emphasized their deep concern for the environment. When efforts have been made in Washington to cut deeply into environmental programs, Americans have been quick to voice their objections. Environmental stewardship is a hallmark of our society, and it is altogether fitting that this new energy option be demonstrated in the State that is the most environmentally conscious of any in the Nation.

Fuel cells rank high on this Administration's energy priority list largely because of their environmental benefits. The fact that this technology emits virtually no smog- or acid rain-causing emissions makes it ideal for urban settings.

The fact that it nearly doubles the power efficiency of today's conventional electric power plant means that it cuts carbon dioxide emissions in half. And that's why when you look at the advanced technologies promoted in the Administration's Global Climate Change Initiative -- the program to reduce greenhouse gases -- you see fuel cells appearing front-and-center.

Energy technology in the 21st Century will be clean technology. The public will demand it. And as this project will show, advanced technology will be able to produce it.

And there should be no doubt about it....Americans will demand more energy in the future. If our economy is to continue to grow...if we are to create jobs and improve the standard of living for all of our citizens, we must find new sources of energy.

Americans in the year 2015 will be using almost 20% more energy overall than Americans are today. They will be consuming almost 30% more electricity.

Today, almost 85% of the energy we consume in this country comes from fossil fuels -- coal, oil and natural gas. We stand on the verge of exciting new developments in solar and renewable energy technology -- and the contribution of these technologies will grow significantly in the coming decades. But even with the great promise of these emerging technologies, our nation will continue to rely on fossil fuels.

By 2015, the percentage of fossil fuel use in this country will actually grow -- from today's 85% to as much as 88% or perhaps even more.

That's why the technology we are dedicating today becomes even more important to this Nation's energy future. It offers us a way to continuing using fossil fuels -- our abundant supplies of natural gas in this particular plant...perhaps tomorrow, if the technology can be further improved, the fuel could be synthetic gas made from even more abundant American coal.

The technology we are celebrating today allows us to continue to rely on these energy resources....resources that have helped build this country's economic strength....resources that can help keep our economy strong and prosperous for well into the next century.

The headline in the Sacramento Bee this April said it best when it described this plant as [quote] "A Fossil of [an] Idea Re-Energized for the 1990s."

That is exactly what we are demonstrating here today...the future of fossil energy. Not a relic of the past....not the vision that most people have when you say the words "fossil fuels"...but a new era of "future fuels"....made-in-America fuels, made environmentally acceptable by American technology.<

No project like this can succeed unless a farsighted entrepreneur ultimately teams with a farsighted utility...a utility willing to look over the horizon and to take on the risks of being a pioneer. This project was extremely fortunate to have been formed around a team involving the City of Santa Clara and Paul Eichenberger.

It takes some fortitude to step out in front of the crowd...to be the first to take on a technology that is unlike anything else. A revolutionary concept will always have its ups-and-downs. As we have seen here in the last few days, technological gremlins can still appear, even after 20 years of development. But because of the determination and willingness of people like Paul Eichenberger and his team to take a new technology and push it across the commercial threshold, this plant will succeed.

It will be the forerunner of plants just like it throughout this State, this country, and quite likely, much of the world.

It is not out-of-the-realm of thinking to envision a world in the 21st century in which the high-tech energy modules you see behind me will be just as commonplace in the remote villages of India and Pakistan as they are in the urban centers of Los Angeles and Tokyo. And it is quite likely that many of those units will trace their technological roots back to Santa Clara and the power plant we are dedicating today.

This plant will succeed because it is the product of a partnership determined to make it succeed.

There is, of course, one participant in this partnership that I have not said much about. It is the agency I represent -- the U.S. Department of Energy. We are proud of our role in shepherding this technology through its early stages, and bringing it to this point today.

But it is not the Department of Energy per se that deserves the credit. It is the core of individuals...the civil servants....who make up the Department and who have been both the proponents and watchdogs of this technology for many years.

No one better symbolizes the quiet, steadfast dedication to government service and to the technological excellence represented by this project than a Federal employee who is not with us today.

Manville Mayfield was the Federal Government's "Mr. Fuel Cell." No one knew the technology better. No one saw the potential of fuel cells more clearly than he did. And no one wanted this project to succeed more.

This facility is rightfully dedicated to the memory of Manville Mayfield. Within his office at Morgantown, West Virginia, or in the briefing rooms of Washington, DC, he was the force that argued most persuasively for pushing this technology forward.

And we are are here today because people inside and outside the Department listened to what he had to say. It is his service and commitment to the future that we honor here today.

So I hope today that we see this facility not only as the culmination of 20 years of hard work and perseverance, but as a signpost for tomorrow....the symbol of what a public-private partnership can produce.

I hope we take away from this ceremony a sense of what is possible when government at all levels and industry work together....directing their individual strengths toward a common purpose....meeting today's needs with an eye on the future.

Congress is today debating the value of government- industry partnerships -- particularly in the development of new technologies for America's future. Some who view these partnerships from behind desks in Washington say that they don't work.

They say these partnerships should be dismantled...that they are a waste of taxpayer dollars.

I would hope that before they jump to such conclusions behind their desks in Washington, they would come to Santa Clara. Here they would see a real-world example of what government and industry can produce. This afternoon, we are commemorating more than just high-tech hardware...we are commemorating the strength of this Nation...what can be accomplished when government and industry join together.

Yes, we at the Department of Energy -- and I would hope you in this audience -- would encourage those who question the path this Nation should be taking...whether it be in developing new sources of energy, or in protecting our environment for future generations, or even in deciding whether taxpayers are getting their money's worth...to come to Santa Clara and see what can be accomplished.

I would hope that we would encourage them to come and see real-life, world-class results....to come and see a preview of the future.

Thank you very much.