There is a growing sense of national urgency about the role of energy in long-term U.S. economic vitality, national security, and climate change. The U.S. has the resources to combat this energy challenge; the dilemma is to identify which solutions will be right for our country, and how to address the massive technological and social changes to come.
To fill this information gap, the National Academies launched the America’s Energy Future study in 2007. This four-year project will explore energy technologies, providing authoritative estimates and analysis of the current and future supply of and demand for energy; new and existing technologies to meet those demands; their associated impacts; and their projected costs.
Excerpts from 4/28/2010 Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on National Energy Policy relating to the National Research Council Report, America's Energy Future: Technology and Transformation
The National Research Council study, America’ Energy Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks and Tradeoffs, was initiated in 2007 jointly by National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering and the subsequently endorsed by a request from Congress to inform the national dialogue about the prospective role of science and technology in shaping the nation’s future patterns of energy supply and use.
The aim of the final committee report, America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation, is to inform policymakers about technological options for transforming energy production, distribution, and use, to increase sustainability, support long-term economic prosperity, promote energy security, and reduce adverse environmental impacts.
America's economy and lifestyles have been shaped by the low prices and availability of energy. In the last decade, however, the prices of oil, natural gas, and coal have increased dramatically, leaving consumers and the industrial and service sectors looking for ways to reduce energy use. To achieve greater energy efficiency, we need technology, more informed consumers and producers, and investments in more energy-efficient industrial processes, businesses, residences, and transportation.
As part of the America's Energy Future project, Realistic Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States examines the potential for reducing energy demand through improving efficiency by using existing technologies, technologies developed but not yet utilized widely, and prospective technologies. The book evaluates technologies based on their estimated times to initial commercial deployment, and provides an analysis of costs, barriers, and research needs. This quantitative characterization of technologies will guide policy makers toward planning the future of energy use in America. This book will also have much to offer to industry leaders, investors, environmentalists, and others looking for a practical diagnosis of energy efficiency possibilities.
A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system.
Liquid Transportation Fuels from Coal and Biomass provides a snapshot of the potential costs of liquid fuels from biomass by biochemical conversion and from biomass and coal by thermochemical conversion. Policy makers, investors, leaders in industry, the transportation sector, and others with a concern for the environment, economy, and energy security will look to this book as a roadmap to independence from foreign oil. With immediate action and sustained effort, alternative liquid fuels can be available in the 2020 time frame, if or when the nation needs them.
The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future: Summary of a Meeting chronicles that 2-day summit and serves as a current and far-reaching foundation for examining energy policy. The summit is part of the ongoing project "America's Energy Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks, and Tradeoffs," which will produce a series of reports providing authoritative estimates and analysis of the current and future supply of and demand for energy; new and existing technologies to meet those demands; their associated impacts; and their projected costs. The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future: Summary of a Meeting is an essential base for anyone with an interest in strategic, tactical, and policy issues. Federal and state policy makers will find this book invaluable, as will industry leaders, investors, and others willing to convert concern into action to solve the energy problem.
