Steven Chu has Finally Left the Department of Energy

Monday the 22nd of April saw the final day of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s more than four year term as head of the Department of Energy (DoE).

He will now head back to his old teaching job at Stanford University in California, where he was a professor of physics from 1987 to 2004.

Chu’s time as Energy Secretary has seen the Nobel Prize winner increase the support for clean energy technologies, and renewable energy sources, and even defended these decisions against Republican attacks when some ventures fail, such as Solyndra’s infamous bankruptcy in 2011. Chu also oversaw the creation of the ARPA-e which has now funded over 275 energy technology projects.

Related article: Chu's Departure Means End to Energy Era

After serving the longest term as secretary in the history of the DoE, Chu announced his desire to leave the post at the beginning of February.

On Tuesday Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman took over in Chu’s absence until such a time as the senate officially confirms Professor Ernest Moniz as Chu’s long term replacement.

Another professor of physics, this time from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moniz is onw only waiting for the approval of the full Senate after having received a bipartisan 21-1 vote at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week.

By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com