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One of the many things that defines American exceptionalism is that good ideas can sprout from anywhere along its vast political, social and economic ecosystem and grow to make a difference to the nation. We are not a top-down society. Americans feel free to propose new ways of doing things. We readily suggest new approaches to each other and to those to whom we allow leadership roles. We also feel free to get together. Americans associate. We form groups, we dialogue and together we man the ramparts.
On February 9th I attended a Brookings Institution gathering at the National Press Club that exemplified the American trait of organic, collective citizen action and good idea generation. The 2 ½ hour event, titled ‘New Paradigms in Energy Research’ brought together leaders from politics, academia and business to discuss enhancing America’s capacity for groundbreaking research, development and commercialization for the purpose of shifting the country to a new energy economy.
It was yet another standing-room-only event in Washington.
Hosted by Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program, speakers included Keith Cooley, CEO of Michigan’s NEXTEnergy (a renewable energy technology incubator), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), James Duderstadt, President of the University of Michigan, E. Gordon Gee, President of The Ohio State University, and Michael M. Crow, President of Arizona State University.
The idea is to create a network of energy-oriented “discovery-innovation institutes” (e-DIIs)---regional research centers designed to complement the nation’s federal laboratories and corporate R&D centers ‘with a radically different model for converting breakthrough inventions into market-ready technology’
Mr. Duderstadt set the stage, and his remarks, presentation and analysis were the beating heart of the event. Here’s the gist:
• America faces an interrelated set of serious energy challenges. In fact, supply, security and environmental challenges plague the world’s energy production and delivery system
• The federal government is under-investing in energy R&D by an order of magnitude, putting the future of the nation at great risk
• A technology challenge exists in that the current energy technologies have not yet achieved either the scale or the cost structures necessary for commercialization
• A market failure challenge exists in that there are two enormous, uncorrected market failures: Energy prices do not internalize all costs, and firms under-invest in R&D
• There’s also a complexity challenge, in that large scale deployment of sustainable energy technologies will involve not only advanced scientific research and the development of new technologies, but—and here’s a key part—also require careful attention to complex social, economic, legal, political, behavioral, consumer and market issues; all characterized by complex regional, national, and international relationships
• Beyond increasing federal energy R&D, new research paradigms are needed to augment the work of the national laboratories and corporate R&D centers
• Transformative innovation is required to commercialized and deploy energy breakthroughs, but multiple market and government failures hinder energy innovation investments and problem solving
Pretty heavy stuff. The solution? The Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes, or E-DIIs. What’s the heck are E-DIIs, you may ask? Nothing less than a new energy research paradigm, is the answer.
We were informed that the DII concept was developed by the National Academy of Engineering to link scientific discoveries with technological innovation to create products, processes, and services needed by society. According to Mr. Duderstadt, the energy DII concept is a contemporary adaptation of a successful research paradigm created over a century ago through the Morrill Land-Grant Act. The idea is to create regional Institutes—composed of academic institutions, national laboratories, and commercial R&D facilities—that collaborate on R&D for the purpose of commercializing technologies that help America de-couple from the current dirty and dangerous international energy economy.
The proposal is for the federal government to direct a portion of the increased energy R&D funding toward a new research paradigm embodied by E-DIIs.
E-DIIs would be the hubs of a distributed research network linking the nation’s best scientists, engineers, and facilities. Through such a network, the nation 'could at once increase its current inadequate energy R&D effort and complement existing resources with a new research paradigm that would join the unique capabilities of America’s research universities to those of corporate R&D and federal laboratories'.
The upshot suggestion is that the United States must move now to address the two main shortcomings of its energy innovation policies; i.e., the federal government should increase energy R&D investment by an order of magnitude, and also supplement and enhance the energy research efforts of the national labs and industry via the E-DIIs. According to the authors of the plan:
• The federal government should create a national network of several dozen e-DIIs. An interagency process should establish the network and competitively award core federal support of up to $200 million per year for each major e-DII operated by university or national laboratory consortia, along with funding for smaller e-DIIs and distributed energy networks connected to the large e-DII “hubs.”
• Federal funding would be augmented with participation by industry, investors, universities, and state governments, for a total federal commitment growing to roughly $6 billion per year (or 25 percent of a recommended total federal energy R&D goal of $20 to $30 billion per year).
“Whoa”, some of you may say, “that’s a lot of moola”. You’re right. It’s a lot of paint…but consider the size of the canvas. Here’s the icing on the cake, in case you’re a doubter:
“Despite the scale and urgency of the nation’s energy challenges, neither large industrial firms nor the federal government have regarded energy research as a high priority for several decades. Today’s investments in energy R&D by the federal government and large industrial firms are only one-fifth the level of the early 1980s, and make up just 1.1 percent of the nation’s total R&D investment and 0.03 percent of the nation’s GDP. Overall, U.S. public and private spending on energy technology research, development, and demonstration comes to no more than $5–6 billion per year, significantly less than 1 percent of what the country spends for electricity and fuels, with less than $3.8 billion going to federal and large-corporation R&D despite the energy industry’s annual $1.3 trillion gross output.”
Ain’t logic grand?
I wasn’t quite sure what was going to be proposed at the event, and I was unprepared for not only the final product, but the sound judgement and coherence of the argument. America’s energy economy is, well, fill in the ______ (contorted inverted, perverted, whatever). This country spends a scintilla of resources getting itself out of its current energy predicament (again, that means economic, environmental, security). Yet we transfer tremendous treasure overseas and spend plenty to support military action that ensures a continuation of the status quo. It’s crazy. Why not fund, support and operationalize our best and brightest so that they can think a way out of the bind we’re in, and in the process create a homegrown industry full of fresh jobs?
Maybe because up until now, we weren’t in such a bind (economic, environmental, security). My father used to say that nothing centers the mind like a hanging.
That’s probably why this plan was germinated in Michigan, where total un/under-employment is around 14.5%. Or why Senator Brown—a fantastic speaker and impressive thinker—was there to lend concurrence and support. His state of Ohio is watching the Big Three go away, too, but sees light at the end of the tunnel in the form of solar, wind, and the balance of renewable energy and efficiency.
We’re at a crossroads in this country, between a history of economic strength and leadership and a future that is unknown. Its heartening to see good ideas germinate as Americans come together to work toward a cleaner, saner, more secure future. Working together to overcome is what we do best. It’s an exceptional country.
