N OV E M B E R 2 0 10

Executive Summary

Executive Office of the President

President’s Council of Advisors 

on Science and Technology

R EPORT TO THE PR ESIDENT ON

ACCELER ATING THE PACE OF 

CH ANGE IN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 

THROUGH AN INTEGR ATED 

FEDER AL ENERGY POLICY
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About the President’s Council of 

Advisors on Science and Technology

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is an advisory group of the 

nation’s leading scientists and engineers, appointed by the President to augment the science and technology advice available to him from inside the White House and from cabinet departments and other 

Federal agencies. PCAST is consulted about and often makes policy recommendations concerning the 

full range of issues where understandings from the domains of science, technology, and innovation 

bear potentially on the policy choices before the President. PCAST is administered by the White House 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). 

For more information about PCAST, see www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast.
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The President’s Council of Advisors 

on Science and Technology

Co-Chairs 

John P. Holdren

Assistant to the President for 

Science and Technology

Director, Office of Science 

and Technology Policy

Eric Lander

President

Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT

Members

Rosina Bierbaum

Dean, School of Natural Resources and 

Environment 

University of Michigan

Christine Cassel

President and CEO

American Board of Internal Medicine

Christopher Chyba

Professor, Astrophysical Sciences and 

International Affairs

Director, Program on Science and 

Global Security

Princeton University

S. James Gates, Jr.

John S. Toll Professor of Physics

Director, Center for String and Particle Theory

University of Maryland, College Park

Shirley Ann Jackson

President

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Richard C. Levin

President

Yale University

Chad Mirkin

Rathmann Professor, Chemistry, Materials 

Science and Engineering, Chemical and 

Biological Engineering and Medicine

Director, International Institute for 

Nanotechnology

Northwestern University

Mario Molina

Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of California, San Diego

Professor, Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the 

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Director, Mario Molina Center for Energy and 

Environment, Mexico City

Ernest J. Moniz

Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and 

Engineering Systems

Director, MIT’s Energy Initiative

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Craig Mundie

Chief Research and Strategy Officer

Microsoft Corporation
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ACC ELER AT I N G T H E PAC E O F C H A N G E I N EN ERG Y T E C H N O L O G I E S 

T H RO U G H A N I N T E G R AT ED F ED ER A L EN ERG Y P O LI C Y

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Ed Penhoet

Director, Alta Partners

Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry and Public 

Health

University of California, Berkeley

William Press

Raymer Professor in Computer Science and 

Integrative Biology

University of Texas at Austin

Maxine Savitz

Vice President

National Academy of Engineering

Barbara Schaal

Chilton Professor of Biology

Washington University, St. Louis

Vice President, National Academy of Sciences

Eric Schmidt

Chairman and CEO

Google, Inc.

Daniel Schrag

Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology

Professor, Environmental Science and 

Engineering

Director, Harvard University­wide Center for 

Environment

Harvard University

David E. Shaw

Chief Scientist, D.E. Shaw Research

Senior Research Fellow, Center for 

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Columbia University

Ahmed Zewail

Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and Physics

Director, Physical Biology Center

California Institute of Technology

Staff

Deborah Stine

Executive Director

Mary Maxon

Deputy Executive Director

Gera Jochum

Policy Analyst
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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20502

President Barack Obama

The White House

Washington, DC 20502

Dear Mr. President,

We are pleased to send you this report, Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through 

an Integrated Federal Energy Policy. This report addresses one of the greatest challenges facing our 

country: how to transform the energy system within one to two decades, through leadership in energy 

technology innovation, for reasons of economic competitiveness, environment, and security. 

In this report, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) calls for the development of a coordinated government-wide Federal energy policy. This will be a major undertaking, 

given the large number of Federal policies that affect the development, implementation, and use of 

energy technologies. For that reason, we recommend that the Administration initiate a process analogous to the Quadrennial Defense Review undertaken every four years by the Department of Defense. 

A Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) could establish government-wide goals, coordinate actions across 

agencies, and identify the resources needed for the invention, translation, adoption, and diffusion of 

energy technologies. The development of such a policy would enhance our energy security and create 

jobs as well as mitigate the risk of climate change.

Our report, which was informed by the deliberations of a working group consisting of PCAST members 

and prominent energy experts from the public and private sectors, makes several other important 

recommendations. It urges a substantial increase in Federal support of energy-related research, development, demonstration, and deployment and suggests exploration of several new revenue options 

to provide this support. This increase will provide the U.S. with the potential to leapfrog over other 

countries also investing in the development of energy technologies. We recommend that the Secretary 

of Energy should prepare and implement the DOE component of the full interagency QER focused on 

energy technology innovation, promptly. In addition, it recommends organization and process changes 

that would accelerate progress toward energy innovations. Our report also contains recommendations 

in the areas of workforce development, social science research, use of the government’s procurement 

capacity, and international cooperation. 

Responding to the energy-related challenges of competitiveness, climate change, and security will 

require leadership across the energy innovation chain – from invention to diffusion – but with a dramatic 

acceleration relative to the half century that has been the norm to move new energy systems from initial 

development to thorough integration in the economy. Unleashing this innovation could be one of the 

most important and enduring accomplishments of your Administration.

Sincerely,

John P. Holdren Eric Lander

Co-Chair Co-Chair

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The President’s Council of Advisors 

on Science and Technology

Executive Summary

Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies 

Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy

A clean, secure, safe and affordable energy future is among the preeminent challenges facing the United 

States, and a major acceleration is needed in the pace of energy technology innovation – invention, 

translation, adoption, and diffusion. The U.S. must be at the forefront of energy technology innovation 

over the next decade for reasons of:

• economic competitiveness: renewal of our own energy infrastructure and access to rapidly 

growing global markets for clean energy technology;

• environment:rapid progress towards lower­carbon energy in this decade as a prudent response 

to global warming risks; and

• security: scaling­up of technologies that reduce oil dependence and thereby improve both our 

balance of payments and our security posture.

Meeting this challenge will require extraordinary actions at the Federal level, in concert with the private 

sector that owns and operates the vast majority of the energy supply, distribution, and use enterprise.

In the fall of 2009, the Secretary of Energy asked the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and 

Technology (PCAST) to review the energy technology innovation system to identify and recommend 

ways to accelerate the large­scale transformation of energy production, delivery, and use to a low­carbon 

energy system. In response, PCAST formed a working group of PCAST members and energy experts 

from the public and private sectors that met twice in the first half of 2010 to address the charge and 

formulate recommendations. Informed by the working group’s deliberations, PCAST has developed 

this report to provide advice to the Administration about Federal actions that can promote energy 

technology innovation. 

Our most important recommendation is that the Administration establish a new process that can forge 

a more coordinated and robust Federal energy policy, a major piece of which is advancing energy 

innovation. Many Executive Branch agencies and departments must be engaged, with leadership from 

the Executive Office of the President. This is needed because “energy policy” is an amalgam, and often 

derivative, of policies for environment, competitiveness, security, finance, land use, and more. The 

President should establish a Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) process that will provide a multiyear roadmap that lays out an integrated view of short-, intermediate-, and long-term energy 
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ACC ELER AT I N G T H E PAC E O F C H A N G E I N EN ERG Y T E C H N O L O G I E S 

T H RO U G H A N I N T E G R AT ED F ED ER A L EN ERG Y P O LI C Y

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objectives; outlines legislative proposals to Congress; puts forward anticipated Executive actions 

coordinated across multiple agencies; and identifies resource requirements for the development 

and implementation of energy technologies. The Secretary of Energy should provide the Executive 

Secretariat for the QER. While the QER will be a product of the Administration, substantial input from the 

Congress, the energy industry, academia, NGOs, and the public at large will be essential to the process. 

A staged process should be implemented now so as to provide some elements of a QER during each 

of the next four years. 

We recommend that the Secretary of Energy prepare and implement a DOE­Quadrennial Energy Review, 

focused on energy technology innovation, as a component of the full interagency QER on a shorter 

timescale. The DOE­QER should include roadmaps for key energy technologies, an integrated plan for 

the involvement of the national laboratories in energy programs, portfolio assessments that lay out 

the optimal deployment of resources, identification, and projections of demonstration projects, and 

identification of funding needs for each technology. This QER will also be prepared with strong input 

from many sources inside and outside of the Administration including industry, business, state and local 

governments, non­governmental organizations, and consumers. 

A complete and integrated QER will take longer to mature. While a good start should be made in 

2011, the full government­wide QER should be targeted for delivery in early 2015. PCAST encourages 

Congress to use the QER as a basis for a 4­year authorization process that guides annual appropriations.

The Federal investment in energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) is 

incommensurate with the objective of leadership in energy technology innovation. We recommend 

a substantial increase – to $16 billion per year – in Federal support for energy RDD&D. Given 

the difficulty of increasing appropriated funds to this level and the importance of “front­loading” the 

required investment to jump start innovation, we recommend an alternative approach. The President 

should engage the private sector and Congress so as to generate about $10 billion per year of 

additional RDD&D funding through new revenue streams. This increase will provide the U.S. with 

the potential to leapfrog to development and deployment of the advanced energy technologies 

that will define a robust 21st century energy system.

In addition, the Federal Government should catalog the existing energy subsidies and incentives as 

a first step to realignment with QER priorities, enhance its opportunity to advance energy innovation 

through its purchasing power, and leverage international collaboration to advance energy technology 

innovation. 

DOE needs to implement existing authorities over its organization, administration, and processes by 

extending to all DOE energy programs the review, contracting, funding, and organizational reforms 

implemented successfully1 by Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA­E); managing demonstration projects so as to adhere to private sector practices to the maximum degree possible; working 

with the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department to eliminate barriers to DOE’s 

expeditious implementation of its responsibilities in such areas as loan guarantees and cost sharing; 

and creating separate Offices of International Affairs and of Energy Policy. 

1. Although the ultimate success of the research funded by ARPA­E is unknown, it is clear, as evidenced by 

the three solicitations managed by ARPA­E, that they have been successful in their peer review of proposals, quick 

negotiation of contracts, and rapid hiring of high caliber personnel.
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EXE C U T IVE SUM MA RY

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For workforce development, DOE should establish a new traineeship program to address critical skill 

areas for its energy science and technology mission. Finally, DOE should initiate, along with NSF, a 

multidisciplinary social science research program that will provide critical information and support for 

policy development that advances diffusion of innovative energy technologies. 

An overview of PCAST’s recommendations is provided in the box below.

OVERVIEW OF PCAST RECOMMENDATIONS 

TO ACCELERATE THE PACE OF CHANGE IN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 

THROUGH AN INTEGRATED FEDERAL ENERGY POLICY

Recommendations to Administration and Department of Energy:

2-1 Establish a full interagency Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) led by the Executive 

Office of the President.

2-2 Develop and implement the DOE component of the full interagency Quadrennial 

Energy Review promptly.

Recommendations to Administration:

3-1 Increase annual energy RDD&D funding to about $16B. 

3-2 Generate $10 of the $16 billion through new revenue streams. 

3-3 Realign energy subsidies and incentives.

3-4 Enhance the Federal Government’s ability to advance energy technology innovation 

through its purchasing power.

3-5 Reestablish the Committee on International Science, Engineering, and Technology 

within the National Science and Technology Council. 

Recommendations to Department of Energy:

4-1 Direct $12 billion of the $16 billion to Research, Development, and Demonstration

(RD&D) funding, with an emphasis on DOE competitive programs. 

4-2 Exercise authorities to align internal processes and organization with energy 

objectives.

4-3 Establish a DOE training grant program.

4-4 Initiate a multidisciplinary social science research program. 

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Appendix B: PCAST Energy Technology 

Innovation System working Group

Co-Chairs

Ernest J. Moniz*

Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and 

Engineering Systems

Director, MIT’s Energy Initiative

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Maxine Savitz*

Vice President

National Academy of Engineering

Members

Dennis Assanis

Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt Professor of 

Engineering

Director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix 

Energy Institute

University of Michigan

Rosina Bierbaum*

Dean, School of Natural Resources and 

Environment

University of Michigan

Nick Donofrio

Executive Vice President of Innovation and 

Technology (retired)

IBM

Robert Fri

Visiting Scholar

Resources for the Future

Kelly Sims Gallagher 

Associate Professor of Energy & Environmental 

Policy 

The Fletcher School

Tufts University

Charles Goodman

Senior Vice President for Generation Policy 

(retired)

Southern Company

John P. Holdren*

Assistant to the President for 

Science and Technology

Director

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Shirley Ann Jackson*

President

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Raymond L. Orbach

Director, Energy Institute

Ernest Cockrell Jr. Chair

The University of Texas at Austin

Lynn Orr

Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum 

Engineering, Department of Energy Resources 

Engineering 

Director of Precourt Institute for Energy 

Stanford University

William Powers

Vice President – Research (retired)

Ford Motor Company

Arati Prabhakar

General Partner

U.S. Venture Partners

PCAST Energy Technology 

Innovation System Working Group
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Barbara Schaal*

Chilton Professor of Biology

Washington University, St. Louis

Vice President, National Academy of Sciences

Daniel Schrag*

Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology

Professor, Environmental Science and 

Engineering

Director, Harvard University­wide Center for 

Environment

Harvard University

Deborah Stine

Executive Director, PCAST

* PCAST member

TJ Augustine

Student Volunteer, PCAST

Staff

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast