Four charts that show the U.S. spends too little on energy research

[FBaggins]

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 it’s 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.* That’s 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/

[GliderGuider]

1. And I bet all that research money is devoted to the idea of "MORE"

More energy, more efficiency, doing more, having more, and damn the consequences.

Not a dime for "LESS", though...