Energy R and D in the Industrialized World: Retrenchment and Refocusing

This report presents preliminary findings from an ongoing research project examining trends in energy R&D investments in selected industrialized countries (The United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and the European Union). Its underlying purpose is to assess the adequacy of current energy R&D, in terms of investment levels and programmatic scope considering the likely energy technology demands associated with international efforts to address global climate change. It finds that, while overall levels of public and private investment in all forms of R&D have risen significantly across the countries studied, investments in energy R&D have declined in real terms. Causes of the observed decline might include the ongoing deregulation of the energy industries, the absence of acute energy crises, and shifts in domestic social and policy priorities in the post-Cold War period. In addition, it finds noteworthy shifts within industrialized countries' energy R&D investment portfolios. In most countries, nuclear R&D has declined (by more than 90% in key countries such as the U.S. and Germany) while the remaining R&D resources are shifting toward shorter-term projects, most notably in the energy efficiency area. Research on carbon sequestration, hydrogen production, and fuel cells is gaining in prominence public sector energy R&D, often displacing traditional fossil energy R&D projects. Future research associated with this project will include the preparation of reports on several additional industrialized countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, and Switzerland. Collectively, the small set of countries addressed in this project account for over 95% of the world's energy R&D