Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Energy research and development

Progress in Energy Innovation, Development, and Deployment

Andrew Facini — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:13:18 -0500

"As the financial and environmental costs of current-generation energy sources continue to mount, development and implementation of innovative new energy sources have become increasingly important. Belfer Center experts are putting their research to work to foster changes in government and industry alike to push forward these energy technologies."

Spotlight: Laura Diaz Anadon

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:11:07 -0500

"Laura Diaz Anadon is Associate Director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and a member of the Belfer Center Board of Directors. In May, she was named Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School."

Energy and the Arab Awakening: A View from Riyadh

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:33:15 -0500

April 30, 2013

The Middle East Initiative and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs hosted distinguished scholars and energy experts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a panel discussion on Thursday, April 25. The panelists included Dr. Mohammed Al Sabban, Professor, King Abdulaziz University, former advisor to Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Mr. Ali Al Shihabi, Founder, Rasmala Investment Bank; and Mr. Abdulaziz al Fahad, Principal of Abdulaziz al Fahad Law Firm.

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

Kelly Sims Gallagher and Laura Diaz Anadon — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:03:40 -0500

In our annual review of the budget request for fiscal year 2014 for the Department of Energy's energy research, development, demonstration (RD&D) programs, we observe that it is significantly higher than the FY12 budget, a 33 percent increase overall, from $3.25 billion to $4.30 billion (current dollars), not including basic energy sciences. The increase in basic energy sciences is also large compared with FY12, a 17 percent increase for a total of $1.74 billion. We observe a huge decline in spending on deployment programs since the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Our database, including charts, is available for download.

Natural Gas Development in Kurdistan: A Financial Assessment

Stephen A. Elliott and Louis B. Beryl — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:53:04 -0600

This report summarizes the context of natural gas development in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan), assesses the major risk factors and opportunities, and presents a financial model for natural gas development projects.

More than One Way to Skin a Policy

Andrew Facini — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:00:28 -0600

Washington Post national environment reporter Juliet Eilperin spoke on the political difficulties of pursuing environmental policy in a seminar titled "Covering Environmental Controversies in a Political Environment" at the Harvard Kennedy School.

'Energy Independence' Alone Won't Boost U.S. Power

Meghan L. O'Sullivan — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:22:00 -0600

“We are finally poised to control our own energy future,” said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union message, noting the drastic increase in American energy production from unconventional oil and gas resources.

Controlling our energy future means more than just producing a greater amount of our own energy. It also means harnessing this energy renaissance to meet our global geopolitical needs. We’ve begun to reap the many economic benefits this boom brings—such as easing the trade deficit and lowering carbon emissions. But we have only started to appreciate how this energy renaissance affects our larger strategic environment. And, not surprisingly, many readers of the tea leaves have confused reality with desire, by hoping more energy at home will mean keeping out of the volatile politics and economics of the Middle East.

Expert Judgments about RD&D and the Future of Nuclear Energy

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:48:58 -0600

Probabilistic estimates of the cost and performance of future nuclear energy systems under different scenarios of government research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) spending were obtained from 30 U.S. and 30 European nuclear technology experts. The majority expected that such RD&D would have only a modest effect on cost, but would improve performance in other areas, such as safety, waste management, and uranium resource utilization. The U.S. and E.U. experts were in relative agreement regarding how government RD&D funds should be allocated, placing particular focus on very high temperature reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactors, fuels and materials, and fuel cycle technologies.

Center Team Advances Vital Research at Intersection of Water and Energy

Sharon Wilke — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 07:13:48 -0600

Two years ago, Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti and Laura Diaz Anadon, director and associate director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, set the stage for the Center’s energy research team to zero in on the challenges facing energy and the natural resource essential to it in many countries around the world—water. This article reviews some of their work to date.

Missions-oriented RD&D Institutions in Energy Between 2000 and 2010: A Comparative Analysis of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Laura Diaz Anadon — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:51:20 -0600

By analyzing the institutions that have been created to stimulate energy technology innovation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China—three countries with very different sizes, political systems and cultures, natural resources, and histories of involvement in the energy sector—this article highlights how variations in national objectives and industrial and political environments have translated into variations in policy.

The Coming Oil Glut

Leonardo Maugeri — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:13:37 -0600

November 6, 2012

"The price of oil continues to be set by fear, not by supply and demand," writes Leonard Maugeri. "World-wide oil production is growing quickly. By the end of the year, it will probably surpass 92 million barrels per day, with additional spare capacity of more than 3.5 million barrels. Thanks to the shale oil revolution, U.S. crude production could exceed 6.5 million barrels per day by the end of the year: around one million more barrels than the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in January."

The Energy Technology Innovation System

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:00:56 -0500

This article reviews the concept of an energy technology innovation system (ETIS). The ETIS is a systemic perspective on innovation comprising all aspects of energy transformations (supply and demand); all stages of the technology development cycle; as well as all the major innovation processes, feedbacks, actors, institutions, and networks.

The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Anchoring Stability in Asia

Richard Armitage and Joseph S. Nye — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:03:29 -0500

The following report presents a consensus view of the members of a bipartisan study group on the U.S.-Japan alliance. The report specifically addresses energy, economics and global trade, relations with neighbors, and security-related issues. Within these areas, the study group offers policy recommendations for Japan and the United States, which span near- and long-term time frames. These recommendations are intended to bolster the alliance as a force for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The Geopolitics of Natural Gas

Amy Myers Jaffe and Meghan L. O'Sullivan — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:39:13 -0500

Some of the most dramatic energy developments of recent years have been in the realm of natural gas. Huge quantities of unconventional US shale gas are now commercially viable, changing the strategic picture for the United States by making it self-sufficient in natural gas for the foreseeable future. This development alone has reverberated around the globe, causing shifts in patterns of trade and leading other countries in Europe and Asia to explore their own shale gas potential. Such developments are putting pressure on longstanding arrangements, such as oil-linked gas contracts and the separate nature of North American, European, and Asian gas markets, and may lead to strategic shifts, such as the weakening of Russia’s dominance in the European gas market.

North American Oil and Gas Reserves: Prospects and Policy

Jonathan Bailey and Henry Lee — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:46:09 -0500

Expanding estimates of North America’s supply of accessible shale gas, and more recently, shale oil, have been trumpeted in many circles as the most significant energy resource development since the oil boom in Texas in the late 1920s. How large are these resources? What challenges will need to be overcome if their potential is to be realized? How will they impact U.S. energy policy?

To address these questions, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and two of its programs ― the Environment and Natural Resources Program and the Geopolitics of Energy Project ― convened a group of experts from business, government, and academia on May 1, 2012, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The following report summarizes the major issues discussed at this workshop. Since the discussions were off-the-record, no comments are attributed to any individual. Rather, this report attempts to summarize the arguments on all sides of the issues.

Harvard/Rice Study Explores Scenarios for Future of Natural Gas

Jonas Meckling — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:13:13 -0500

June 8, 2012

On May 9 and 10, the Geopolitics of Natural Gas study had its third workshop to develop scenarios for the geopolitics of natural gas. This time the members of the two-year joint Harvard/Rice project met at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston. The two-day session brought together experts on major gas producer and consumer countries, economists specialized in world gas modelling and industry representatives.

Oil Development in China: Current Status and Future Trends

Linwei Ma, Feng Fu, Zheng Li and Pei Liu — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:13:47 -0500

This paper attempts to present a full picture of the current status and future trends of China's oil development through system analysis. The authors design three scenarios of China's oil demand in 2030 and analyze policy implications for oil conservation, automotive energy development, and energy security. From their analysis, they draw some conclusions for policy decisions, such as controlling total oil consumption to avoid energy security risks, enhancing oil conservation in all sectors with the emphasis on road transportation, and increasing investment in oil production and refining to secure oil supply and reduce emissions.

Oil: The Next Revolution

Leonardo Maugeri — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:11:45 -0500

A new study by Belfer Center Geopolitics of Energy researcher Leonardo Maugeri finds that oil production capacity is surging in the United States and several other countries at such a fast pace that global oil output capacity is likely to grow by nearly 20 percent by 2020. This could prompt a plunge or even a collapse in oil prices. The findings by Maugeri, a former oil industry executive who is now a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, are based on an original field-by-field analysis of the world’s major oil formations and exploration projects.

Film Series Promotes Environmental Activism

Traci Farrell — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:12:08 -0500

Organized by Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Director Amanda Sardonis and senior fellow Cristine Russell, ENRP kicked off its 2012 Environmental Film Series with screenings of three widely heralded documentaries: “The Last Mountain,” directed by Bill Haney focuses on citizens fighting to prevent large coal companies from practicing mountain top removal in their town.... “A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet,” directed by Mark Kitchell, highlights the major environmental movements from the last 50 years, while "The Grand Energy Transition: Natural Gas - The Bridge To Our Sustainable Future," directed by Belfer Center International Council Member Robert A. Hefner III argues that natural gas is the future of U.S. energy.

The Price of Wind Power in China During its Expansion: Technology Adoption, Learning-by-doing, Economies of Scale, and Manufacturing Localization

Yueming Qiu and Laura Diaz Anadon — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:18:03 -0500

Using the bidding prices of participants in China's national wind project concession programs from 2003 to 2007, this paper built up a learning curve model to estimate the joint learning from learning-by-doing and learning-by-searching, with a novel knowledge stock metric based on technology adoption in China through both domestic technology development and international technology transfer. The paper describes, for the first time, the evolution of the price of wind power in China, and provides estimates of how technology adoption, experience building wind farm projects, wind turbine manufacturing localization, and wind farm economies of scale have influenced the price of wind power.

Natural Gas as a Bridge to the Future

Dominic Contreras — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:11:50 -0500

April 11, 2012

On Monday April 9, the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) hosted a screening and discussion of Hefner’s latest project, a documentary titled “The Grand Energy Transition: Natural Gas – The Bridge To Our Sustainable Future.” Excerpts from the film were shown at the Kennedy School to an audience including Belfer Center Director Graham Allison and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Joseph S. Nye.

(See link below for audio podcast of the event)

Energy Report: Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:17:34 -0500

The U.S. government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group.

Researchers Brief U.S. Officials on Findings

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:16:32 -0500

The key authors of Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation released the report at an event in Washington, D.C.in November. Hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, report authors Venky Narayanamurti, Laura Diaz Anadon, and Matthew Bunn presented the study process, findings, and recommendations.

Technology & Policy – A New Belfer Center Blog

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:15:05 -0500

Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work offers a platform for exchange of views on matters at the intersection of science, technology and public policy. Principal bloggers are Harvard faculty and Fellows from across the Belfer Center, the Kennedy School, and Harvard University.

Q&A Laura Diaz Anadon

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:10:15 -0500

Laura Diaz Anadon is the associate director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She investigates the patterns and processes of technology innovation, especially the role of government policy in the development and deployment of advanced and cleaner energy technologies.

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

Kelly Sims Gallagher and Laura Diaz Anadon — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:58:14 -0600

This document contains February 2012 updates to our database on U.S. government investments in energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) through the Department of Energy. The database, in Microsoft Excel format, tracks DOE appropriations from FY 1978–2011 and the FY 2012 and 2013 budget requests and includes funding for ERD3 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It also includes several charts.

The Unnoticed Oil Revolution

Leonardo Maugeri — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:02:30 -0600

How booming investments, new technologies, new oil frontiers, and ongoing production development may set a surprising paradigm-shift in the energy world

The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience

Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:28:00 -0600

Because of the global commons nature of climate change, international cooperation among nations will likely be necessary for meaningful action at the global level. At the same time, it will inevitably be up to the actions of sovereign nations to put in place policies that bring about meaningful reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Due to the ubiquity and diversity of emissions of greenhouse gases in most economies, as well as the variation in abatement costs among individual sources, conventional environmental policy approaches, such as uniform technology and performance standards, are unlikely to be sufficient to the task. Therefore, attention has increasingly turned to market-based instruments in the form of carbon-pricing mechanisms. We examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the major options for carbon pricing: carbon taxes, cap-and-trade, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reductions.

Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:04:16 -0600

The United States and the world need a revolution in energy technology—a revolution that would improve the performance of our energy systems to face the challenges ahead. In an intensely competitive and interdependent global landscape, and in the face of large climate risks from ongoing U.S. reliance on a fossil-fuel based energy system, it is important to maintain and expand long-term investments in the energy future of the U.S. even at a time of budget stringency. It is equally necessary to think about how to improve the efficiency of those investments, through strengthening U.S. energy innovation institutions, providing expanded incentives for private-sector innovation, and seizing opportunities where international cooperation can accelerate innovation. The private sector role is key: in the United States the vast majority of the energy system is owned by private enterprises, whose innovation and technology deployment decisions drive much of the country's overall energy systems.

Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:51:59 -0600

The United States needs a revolution in energy technology innovation to meet the profound economic, environmental, and national security challenges that energy poses in the 21st century. Researchers at Harvard Kennedy School undertook a three-year project to develop actionable recommendations for transforming the U.S. energy innovation system. This research has led to five key recommendations for accelerating U.S. energy innovation.