by Brianna Crandall — December 3, 2010—The United States should prepare a federal energy policy and update it regularly, according to a report released on November 29 by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades, according to analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
In the report, PCAST calls for regular strategic Quadrennial Reviews of energy policy similar to the quadrennial reviews produced regularly by the U.S. Department of Defense. The first one is targeted for early 2015. The group—which includes presidentially appointed experts from academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry—recommends a DOE-level version of the review by June 1, 2011, focused on DOE’s activities. The federal plan is needed because of economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship and national security, the authors said.
The new report recommends significantly increasing federal investments in energy-related research and development, urging an increase from the current level of approximately $5 billion per year to about $16 billion per year. The report also suggests the president engage the private sector, consumer representatives, and Congress in exploring options to provide new revenue streams that could support the development of more efficient energy technologies.
PCAST concluded that the transformation of the U.S. energy system to a more sustainable model is being slowed both by the large number of federal policies that affect the development, implementation and use of energy technologies and by the lack of coordination among the many departments and agencies with responsibilities under those policies.
To facilitate planning, the Executive Office of the President would lead the Quadrennial Energy Reviews, and DOE would provide a secretariat. A main focus should be on promoting widespread use of new technologies that have proven worthy of scale-up, PCAST said.
