(The Center Square) – With the continued push to cleaner energy, some industry stakeholders have ideas of what it could take to get there.
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.
