Full Title: The Value of Advanced Energy Funding: Analysis for Active Legislative Discussion
Author(s): Daniel Shawhan, Kathryne Cleary, Christoph Funke, Steven Witkin
Publisher(s): Resources for the Future
Publication Date: August 13, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The benefits of additional research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) for advanced energy technologies are likely to greatly exceed the costs. The additional funding authorized by the Energy Act of 2020 for the five technologies we consider would generate projected societal benefits averaging $30 billion in present value per technology during 2040–2060.
Twenty-six experts in advanced nuclear, advanced geothermal, energy storage, natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration (NG-CCS), and direct air capture (DAC) projected the effects of the additional RD&D funding on the future costs of the technologies. The experts expect the additional funding to reduce the costs of the technologies by 9–30 percent in 2035, compared with the case of no additional funding.
This issue brief summarizes the findings of a study that estimates some of the effects of proposed additional RD&D funding for five advanced clean energy technologies.