Reversing the Incredible Shrinking Energy R & D Budget

摘要

The federal government and private industry are both reducing their investments in energy research and development (R & D) at a time when geopolitics, environmental concerns, and economic competitiveness call instead for a major expansion in U.S. capacity to innovate in this sector. Although the Bush administration lists energy research as a "high-priority national need" and points to the recently passed energy bill as evidence of action, the 2005 federal budget reduced energy R & D by 11 percent from 2004. The American Association for the Advancement of Science projects a decline in federal energy R & D of 18 percent by 2009. Meanwhile, and arguably most troubling, the lack of vision on energy is damaging the business environment for existing and startup energy companies. Investments in energy R & D by U.S. companies fell by 50 percent between 1991 and 2003.