Energy Research at DOE: Was It Worth It? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research 1978 to 2000
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular Engineering Electrical Engineering Engineering Management Environmental Engineering General Engineering, Engineering Science Geological Engineering Materials Engineering Mechanical Engineering Nuclear Engineering Ocean Engineering Petroleum Engineering |
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| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Organization:Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) Organization:Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS) Organization:National Academy Press |
| Description: | Report of the National Acadamies. Executive Summary: "From the time of the first Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries oil embargo nearly 30 years ago, the United States has looked to new technology for solutions to its energy problems. Indeed, the first government reports to recommend an energy research and development (R&D) agenda appeared within weeks of that 1973 event. In 1975, President Ford created the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), consolidating under one umbrella existing R&D energy programs from several agencies. In late 1977, ERDA became part of the new Department of Energy (DOE). And today, energy R&D remains a major element of DOE’s mission. From 1978 through 1999, the federal government expended $91.5 billion (2000 dollars) on energy R&D, mostly through DOE programs. This direct federal investment constituted about a third of the nation’s total energy R&D expenditure, the balance having been spent by the private sector. Of course, government policies—from cost sharing to environmental regulation to tax incentives—influenced the priorities of a significant fraction of the private investment. On balance, the government has been the largest single source and stimulus of energy R&D funding for more than 20 years. In legislation appropriating funds for DOE’s fiscal year (FY) 2000 energy R&D budget, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee directed an evaluation of the benefits that have accrued to the nation from the R&D conducted since 1978 in DOE’s energy efficiency and fossil energy programs. In response to the congressional charge, the National Research Council formed the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy (the committee). From its inception, DOE’s energy R&D program has been the subject of many outside evaluations. The present evaluation asks whether the benefits of the program have justified the considerable expenditure of public funds since DOE’s formation in 1977, and, unlike earlier evaluations, it takes a comprehensive look at the actual outcomes of DOE’s research over two decades." |
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| Keywords: | energy energy conservation renewable energy |
| Referenced By: |
Energy Symposium: The Rosenfeld Effect |
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| Related ABET Criteria: |
(e) Identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems (h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Use of Resource: |
Excellent report. Although historical, there are many lessons for today. "From 1978, debate about how best to spend the public?s money has surrounded DOE?s research program. Perhaps the most important change in the debate has been the evolving understanding of the larger goals of energy policy and hence of R&D objectives. Reducing dependence on energy imports (especially oil) persisted as a central tenet of energy policy into the 1980s. During that period, government R&D policy stressed development of alternative liquid fuels. By the early 1980s, more faith was placed in market forces to resolve energy supply and demand imbalances and in the development of technologies to enlarge the former and constrain the latter. In consequence, federal research goals shifted and began to stress long-term, precompetitive R&D. After 1992, technology priorities moved in the direction of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. And the role of federal funding, having swung between support of expensive demonstration projects and limited funding of basic research, settled into a preference for cost sharing in the form of public-private partnerships. This brief recounting of the shifting forces that shaped energy R&D over the last 25 years conveys a sense of the twists and turns of both program goals and management philosophy that DOE?s research managers have had to follow since 1978. Without an appreciation of these shifts, evaluating the successes and failures of DOE?s research program would be a very frustrating and puzzling enterprise." |
| Difficulty: |
Difficult |
| Interactivity Level: |
Very low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | October 2001 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10165 |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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