Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
November 2011
Abstract
The United States and the world need a revolution in energy technology—a revolution that would improve the performance of our energy systems to face the challenges ahead. In an intensely competitive and interdependent global landscape, and in the face of large climate risks from ongoing U.S. reliance on a fossil-fuel based energy system, it is important to maintain and expand long-term investments in the energy future of the U.S. even at a time of budget stringency. It is equally necessary to think about how to improve the efficiency of those investments, through strengthening U.S. energy innovation institutions, providing expanded incentives for private-sector innovation, and seizing opportunities where international cooperation can accelerate innovation. The private sector role is key: in the United States the vast majority of the energy system is owned by private enterprises, whose innovation and technology deployment decisions drive much of the country's overall energy systems.
Citation
Anadon, Laura Diaz, Matthew Bunn, Gabriel Chan, Melissa Chan, Ruud Kempener, Charles Jones, Audrey Lee, Nathaniel Logar, and, Venkatesh Narayanamurti. "Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation." Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, November 2011.