Kelly Sims Gallagher

June 25, 2009

DOE FY 2010 Budget Request and Recovery Act Funding for Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment: Analysis and Recommendations

Report

By Laura Diaz Anadon, Project Manager, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy, Energy Technology Innovation Policy, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy and Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project

A new analysis of energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) funding in the Obama administration's FY2010 budget and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 finds that the total available for energy research development and demonstration alone and ERD3 in FY2010 would double and increase by two-thirds, respectively, compared to FY2009 (based on certain assumptions). These substantial funding increases—coupled with a range of institutional innovations the administration is implementing and movement toward putting a price on carbon emissions—will help accelerate innovation for a broad range of energy technologies. This report analyzes DOE's budget request for ERD3 and the Recovery Act and makes recommendations for further action by Congress and the administration.

AP Photo

February 2009

"Driving Carbon Capture and Storage Forward in China"

Journal Article, Energy Procedia, issue 1, volume 1

By Hengwei Liu, Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions to combat climate change, is expected to have far-reaching implications for China. This paper (1) explores the strategic significance of CCS for China by making an extreme scenario analysis of Chinese power sector in 2030; (2) provides an overview of the recent CCS activities in China; and (3) identifies the major challenges with respect to CCS development in China and put forwards immediate strategies.

June 12, 2009

DOE Budget Authority for Energy Research, Development, & Demonstration Database

Fact Sheet

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy and Laura Diaz Anadon, Project Manager, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment Policy, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

This document contains June 2009 updates to our database on U.S. government investments in energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) through the Department of Energy.  The update includes funding for ERD3 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  The database, in Microsoft Excel format, tracks DOE appropriations from FY 1978–2009 and the FY 2010 budget request.  It also includes several charts.

AP Photo

March 2009

"In-use Vehicle Emissions in China: Beijing Study"

Discussion Paper

By Hongyan He Oliver, Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy, Mengliang Li, Kongjian Qin, Jianwei Zhang, Huan Li and Kebin He

China's economic boom in the last three decades has spurred increasing demand for transportation services and personal mobility. Consequently, vehicle population has grown rapidly since the early 1990s, especially in megacities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Tianjin. As a result, mobile sources have become more conspicuous contributors to urban air pollution in Chinese cities.

Tianjin was our first focus city, and the study there took us about two years to complete. Building upon the experience and partnership generated through the Tianjin study, the research team carried out the Beijing study from fall 2007–fall 2008.

Beijing was chosen to be our second focus city for several reasons: it has the largest local fleet and the highest percentage of the population owning vehicles among all Chinese cities, and it has suffered from severe air pollution, partially due to the ever-growing population of on-road vehicles.

Photo by Sharon Wilke

June 3, 2009

A Joint Workshop on Promoting the Development and Deployment of IGCC/Co-Production/CCS Technologies in China and the United States

Report

By Lifeng Zhao, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group/Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, 2006-2008, Yunhan Xiao and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

The workshop examined issues surrounding Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) coal plants, which turn coal into gas and remove impurities before the coal is combusted, and the related carbon capture and sequestration, in which the carbon dioxide emissions are captured and stored underground to avoid releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Though promising, advanced coal technologies face steep financial and legal hurdles, and almost certainly will need sustained support from governments to develop the technology and move it to a point where its costs are low enough for widespread use.

May 20, 2009

"Acting in Time on Energy Policy"

Policy Brief

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

This policy brief outlines urgent priorities for U.S. energy policy at the dawn of the Obama administration, and recommends specific steps that the U.S. government should take to address the numerous energy-related challenges facing the United States. It is based on the book, Acting in Time on Energy Policy (Brookings 2009), edited by Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

We concentrate on six topics: climate change policy, carbon capture and storage policy, oil security policy, energy-technology innovation policy, electricity market structure, and infrastructure policy. The United States cannot afford to wait any longer to enact long-term policies on these topics. In fact, acting early is clearly in the longer-term interest of the United States.

AP Photo

May 7, 2009

"China to the Rescue?"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

"...[T]he Chinese may not buy GM's and Ford's assets today, but they could rescue the U.S. industry in another way: by setting an example  of good industrial policy for the United States to follow. Fuel efficiency standards in China, Japan, and even some European countries will push up demand for these sorts of cars. If U.S. firms are to remain internationally competitive, they will need to have more to offer in this regard. But Washington will also have to motivate American consumers to purchase efficient cars...."

May 2009

"Acting in Time on Climate Change"

Book Chapter

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

"This chapter expolres a number of related questions: How much time do we have to act? How much climate change is virtually inevitable? What are the consequences of procrastination? And finally, what is the appropriate role for governments wishing to act in time to reduce the threat of climate change? In addition, the reality of current emissions and policy responses is explored in some detail for the two biggest emitters in the world: the United States and China."

May 2009

"Acting in Time on Energy Policy"

Book Chapter

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

"The book's title—Acting in Time—refers to the persistent problem in U.S. energy policy that typically just enough is done to satisfy the short-term political imperatives, but not enough is done to actually solve the underlying problems themselves. As a result, many of the fundamental economic, environmental, and security-related challenges arising from patterns of U.S. energy production and consumption have become more intractable. Some now approach a point of crisis."

May 2009

Acting in Time on Energy Policy

Book

By Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

Energy policy is on everyone's mind these days. The U.S. presidential campaign focused on energy independence and exploration ("Drill, baby, drill!"), climate change, alternative fuels, even nuclear energy. But there is a serious problem endemic to America's energy challenges. Policymakers tend to do just enough to satisfy political demands but not enough to solve the real problems, and they wait too long to act. The resulting policies are overly reactive, enacted once damage is already done, and they are too often incomplete, incoherent, and ineffectual. Given the gravity of current economic, geopolitical, and environmental concerns, this is more unacceptable than ever. This important volume details this problem, making clear the unfortunate results of such short-sighted thinking, and it proposes measures to overcome this counterproductive tendency.