Four charts that show the U.S. spends too little on energy research
At his confirmation hearing this morning, Energy Secretary nominee Ernest Moniz told the Senate that the United States spends far too little on energy R&D. We are underinvesting by a factor of three, he said.
Is that accurate? Many energy experts have, indeed, argued over the years that the U.S. government should do a lot more to invest in innovative new energy technologies particularly if we want to address global warming. The specific dollar figures are often hotly debated. But its worth laying out the basic situation, in a few charts and graphs:
According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the United States spent $4.36 billion on non-defense energy research in 2012.* Thats more than double the amount from a decade ago, adjusted for inflation, and energy has been the fastest-growing R&D category.
That said, funding for energy-related research is now scheduled to drop significantly in the coming years, thanks to budget caps and the sequester. And energy R&D still makes up a much smaller portion of the federal budget than health or space research.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/09/three-charts-that-show-the-u-s-spends-too-little-on-energy-research/