November, 2004

1
Energy Technology RD Funding

• November, 2004

2
Key Energy Technology Investment Trends

• General Trends
• Overall funding in the U.S. for energy
  technology has declined from a high of around 6
  billion in the early 1990s to around 5 billion.
  This is a 25 year low when viewed across a longer
  period of time stretching back into the mid
  1980s.
• While there appears to be a growing consensus in
  the governmental and academics committees that
  the U.S. is not currently investing enough in
  energy technologies to address future needs,
  funding has continued to decline
• Public and private sector funding for energy
  technology is roughly split with public sector
  funding accounting for 56 of the effort and
  private sector funding accounting for 43
• Private Sector Funding
• The private sector invests less than 1 of sales
  in energy RD (estimates range from between .03
  and .05 percent). This figure is well below other
  industries, particularly in the pharmaceutical
  and IT area
• Funding for collaborative research organizations,
  such as EPRI, have declined particularly in the
  area of strategic, as opposed to applied, RD
• Private sector investments in energy efficiency
  and renewables have increased while investments
  in fossil fuels and nuclear have decreased
• Public Sector Funding
• Public sector energy research funding has
  declined 58 percent over a fifteen year period
• Funding for fossil and nuclear energy research
  has declined while renewable energy has remained
  flat

3

Private Sector RD Investment

RD as of Net Sales by Industry Percent
Drugs/Medicine
Prof./Science Industry
Comm. Equipment
Services
Transp. Equipment
Industrial Chemicals
Stone/Clay/Glass Products
Primary Metals
Energy
Source Margolis and Kammen
4
Government Energy RD Budget
Government Energy RD Budget Billion 1995 US
-58
-20
-65
-6
-89
-53
-32
D 129
-12
Note Government energy RD budgets for selected
IEA countries showing the difference in spending
D between 1980 and 1995. Data for France before
1990 are unavailable, and while we display 1990
and 1995 data for France, this comparison likely
understates the decline in RD funding in France.