CEOs Urge U.S. To Double Energy Research Funding
The pro-innovation group TechNet, whose membership includes top executives from more than 115 tech firms, believes the move away from nonrenewable sources of electricity and fuel will require timely, active support from federal and state government. The group issued an agenda that would focus national attention on expanding policies that encourage the development and adoption of sustainable technologies.
March 22, 2007
The TechNet agenda calls for doubling federal funding for basic energy research to keep pace with the rate of private investment in late-stage development and commercialization. Green Technologies: An Innovation Agenda for America recommends a stronger federal focus on basic research, as well as technology demonstration and commercialization initiatives.
In 2006, North American private venture investment in the clean technology sector reached $2.9 billion, an 80 percent increase over the previous year; federal funding for basic and applied energy R&D, however, fell 60 percent in real dollars between 1978 and 2004, according to TechNet and bipartisan advocacy group National Commission on Energy Policy.
Other recommendations from the TechNet agenda include:
- a National Institute of Energy, as a lead organization for energy research based on the structures of other federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Technology-neutral tax incentives based on performance-based criteria, including minimum efficiency standards, reduced emissions, or reduced dependence on petroleum;
- Federal and state adoption of technology-neutral renewable portfolio standards;
- Creation of a market-based national cap and trade system to control greenhouse gas emissions; and,
- A TechNet-led, private sector initiative to collect and distribute clean energy best practices.