Actions taken over the next decade to demonstrate and deploy key technologies will determine US energy future

WASHINGTON -- With a sustained national commitment, the United States could obtain substantial energy-efficiency improvements, new sources of energy, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through the accelerated deployment of existing and emerging energy technologies, according to AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE: TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION, the capstone report of the America's Energy Future project of the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. Initiating deployment of these technologies is urgent; actions taken -- or not taken -- between now and 2020 to develop and demonstrate several key technologies will largely determine the nation's energy options for many decades to come.

Deploying existing energy-efficiency technologies is a near-term and low-cost way to reduce U.S. energy demand, the report says. Fully deploying these technologies in buildings alone could save enough power to eliminate the need for new electricity generating plants to meet growing U.S. demand. However, some new plants would likely still be needed to address regional supply imbalances, replace obsolete technology, or present more environmentally friendly sources of electricity. Deployment of efficiency technologies in the building, industrial, and transportation sectors could reduce projected U.S. energy use by 15 percent in 2020 and by 30 percent in 2030. Even greater energy savings would be possible with more aggressive policies and incentives.

The United States has many promising options for obtaining new sources of electricity over the next two to three decades, especially if carbon capture and storage and evolutionary nuclear technologies can be deployed at an adequate scale. However, according to the report, the deployment of these new technologies is very likely to result in higher consumer prices for electricity. In addition, the nation's electrical grid will require expansion and modernization to enhance its reliability and security, accommodate changes in load growth and electricity demand, and to enable the deployment of new energy efficiency and supply technologies, especially intermittent wind and solar energy.

In the transportation sector, petroleum will continue to be an indispensable fuel in the coming decades, but maintaining current rates of domestic petroleum production (about 5.1 million barrels per day in 2008) will be challenging. There are limited options for replacing petroleum or reducing petroleum use before 2020, but there are more substantial long-term options that could begin to make significant contributions by 2030 or 2035. Reductions in petroleum use could be obtained through increased vehicle efficiency, production of alternative liuid fuels such as cellulosic ethanol or coal-and-biomass fuels, and expanding deployment of battery electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity and transportation sectors are achievable over the next two to three decades, the report says. In both cases, adopting a portfolio approach -- deploying a variety of alternative technologies aimed at reducing emissions -- would be necessary. For the electricity sector, enabling this portfolio approach will require demonstrating, within the next decade, that carbon capture and storage technologies are technically and commercially viable in both new and existing power plants and in liquid fuels production. It will also be necessary to demonstrate the commercial viability of evolutionary nuclear plants.

To begin accelerated deployments of new energy technologies by 2020, and to ensure that innovative ideas continue to be explored, the public and private sectors will need extensive research development and demonstration over the next decade. The report notes that a broad portfolio approach, supporting basic research through the demonstration stage, will likely be more effective than targeted efforts aimed at identifying technology winners and losers. At the demonstration stage, high-priority technologies include carbon capture and storage, evolutionary nuclear technologies, cellulosic ethanol, and advanced light-duty vehicles. The more long-term research and development needs include new technologies for producing liquid fuels from renewable resources, advanced batteries and fuel cells, large-scale electricity storage, enhanced geothermal power, and advanced solar photovoltaic technologies.

In addition, because many barriers exist that could delay or prevent technology deployment, the report recommends that sustained policy and regulatory actions, as well as other forms of incentives, be employed to drive adoption.

The America's Energy Future project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, BP America, Dow Chemical Company Foundation, Fred Kavli and the Kavli Foundation, GE Energy, General Motors Corp., Intel Corp., and the W.M. Keck Foundation. Support was also provided by the National Academies through the following endowed funds created to perpetually support the work of the National Research Council: Thomas Lincoln Casey Fund, Arthur L. Day Fund, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fund, George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science, and Frank Press Fund for Dissemination and Outreach. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. A committee roster follows.

Copies of the summary edition of AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE: TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at HTTP://WWW.NAP.EDU. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

[ This news release and report are available at HTTP://NATIONAL-ACADEMIES.ORG ]

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

and

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

COMMITTEE ON AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE

HAROLD T. SHAPIRO 1 (CHAIR)

President Emeritus, and

Professor of Economics and Public Affairs

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Princeton University

Princeton, N.J.

MARK S. WRIGHTON (VICE CHAIR)

Professor of Chemistry and Chancellor

Washington University

St. Louis

JOHN F. AHEARNE 2

Executive Director Emeritus

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Research Triangle Park, N.C.

ALLEN J. BARD 3

Hackerman Welch Regents' Chair in Chemistry

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Texas

Austin

JAN BEYEA

Senior Scientist

Consulting in the Public Interest

Lambertville, N.J.

W.F. BRINKMAN 3

Senior Research Physicist

Department of Physics

Princeton University

Princeton, N.J.

DOUGLAS M. CHAPIN 2

Principal

MPR Associates Inc.

Alexandria, Va.

STEVEN CHU 3*

Secretary

U.S. Department of Energy

Washington, D.C.

CHRISTINE A. EHLIG-ECONOMIDES 2

Professor and Albert B. Stevens Endowed Chair

Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering

Texas A&M University

College Station

ROBERT W. FRI

Visiting Scholar and Senior Fellow Emeritus

Resources for the Future Inc.

Bethesda, Md.

CHARLES H. GOODMAN

Senior Vice President for Generation Policy

Southern Company Services Inc. (retired)

Birmingham, Ala.

JOHN B. HEYWOOD 2

Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge

LESTER B. LAVE 1

Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Economics, and

University Professor

Tepper School of Business

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh

JAMES J. MARKOWSKY 2

Executive Vice President

Power Generation Group

American Electric Power Service Corp. (retired)

North Falmouth, Mass.

RICHARD A. MESERVE 2

President

Carnegie Institution for Science

Washington, D.C.

WARREN F. MILLER JR. 2

Research Professor

Nuclear Engineering and Associate Director

Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute

Texas A&M University; and

Senior Adviser and Director

Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired)

Albuquerque, N.M.

FRANKLIN M. ORR JR. 2

Professor of Energy Resources Engineering, and

Director

Global Climate and Energy Project

Stanford University

Stanford, Calif.

LAWRENCE T. PAPAY 2

CEO and Principal

PQR LLC

La Jolla, Calif.

ARISTIDES A.N. PATRINOS

President

Synthetic Genomics Inc.

La Jolla, Calif.

MICHAEL P. RAMAGE 2

Executive Vice President

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. (retired)

Moorestown, N.J.

MAXINE L. SAVITZ 2

General Manager

Honeywell Inc. (retired)

Los Angeles

ROBERT H. SOCOLOW

Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Princeton Environmental Institute

Princeton University

Princeton, N.J.

JAMES L. SWEENEY

Director

Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency

Stanford University

Stanford, Calif.

G. DAVID TILMAN 3

Director

Cedar Creek Natural History Area, and

Regents Professor

Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

University of Minnesota

St. Paul

C. MICHAEL WALTON 2

Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering

Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering

University of Texas

Austin

RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF

KEVIN CROWLEY

Study Director

Director, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board

AMERICA'S ENERGY FUTURE PROJECT MANAGERS

PETER D. BLAIR

Executive Director, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

JAMES ZUCCHETTO

Director, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems

1 Member, Institute of Medicine

2 Member, National Academy of Engineering

3 Member, National Academy of Sciences

* Resigned from committee on January 21, 2009

July 28, 2009