MIT WANTS MORE R & D

MIT President Says Security Risked Without U.S. Energy Research
John Lauerman and Jim Efstathiou, November 6, 2009 (Bloomberg News)

"The lack of U.S. government investment in energy research is increasing the risk to national security and hindering the creation of breakthrough energy technologies, [Susan Hochfield,] the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

"A federal funding effort modeled on the National Institutes of Health [NIH], which has pioneered treatments for AIDS and heart disease, is needed to sustain energy research at a level that will reduce dependence on imported oil and gas…The NIH…grants about $31 billion annually to university scientists to produce technological advances, which are often commercialized by industry. President Barack Obama added $10 billion in two-year stimulus funding. Obama’s request for $6.7 billion in U.S. energy-research funds isn’t enough to move the U.S. toward energy independence, Hockfield said…"

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"…MIT conducts research on solar energy, batteries to store energy, wind and wave power and technology to remove carbon dioxide from power plant emissions…In 2006, MIT established an initiative that focuses on developing clean energy technologies that can displace fossil fuels. Last year, MIT and…Fraunhofer USA, which operates research facilities at universities in Maryland, Michigan, Boston and Delaware, opened a center to study renewable energy…

"Since the mid-1990s U.S. investments in energy research and development have accounted for about 1 percent of the country’s total research spending. From 1961 to 2008, the U.S. spent about $4 trillion on all research, with defense accounting for at least half in every year except one…"

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"Department of Energy funding for basic and applied research rose to $5.8 billion in 2008 from about $3.8 billion in 2000…Federal energy efforts fall short in terms of their overall spending and focus [according to a Brookings Institution report]… Most research is conducted within “siloed” labs that are too far removed from the marketplace, according to the report…Instead, the government should create dozens of research institutes at universities or national laboratories, each with as much as $200 million in annual federal support…The facilities would link scientists and engineers and help move innovations into the market…

"Without plentiful new sources of energy, the U.S. will remain dependent on supplier countries, Hockfield said. That reliance threatens consumer and industrial supplies, as well as the U.S. armed forces’ energy needs…If other countries take the lead on alternative sources, the U.S. will remain dependent, according to Hockfield…The U.S. needs more industry leadership in energy research, Hockfield said. Of 14 companies that are partners in the MIT Energy Initiative, a university-wide effort to modernize energy systems, just two are U.S.-based, she said…"