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dam-l Energy research down/LS
Dangerous Decline in Energy Research "A Dark Path"
PRINCETON, New Jersey, August 3, 1999 (ENS) - Low research into energy technology is jeopardizing the
world's ability to cope with environmental problems and the growing demand for energy, according to research
undertaken at Princeton University.
Money spent in industrialized nations on improving the use of energy resources has dropped to a 20-year low, while
the investment in other types of research has soared, they say.
Daniel Kammen is assistant professor of public and
international affairs and director of the Program in
Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy in the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs at Princeton University. (Photo courtesy
Princeton University)
These cutbacks "should sound an alarm," say Robert Margolis and
Daniel Kammen of Princeton in the July 30 issue of "Science," the
journal of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. "The wholesale dismantling of large portions of the
industrial world's energy R&D infrastructure could seriously impair
our ability to envision and develop new technologies to meet
emerging challenges," Kammen and Margolis wrote.
The top ten nations have dropped energy research and development
by 39 percent since 1980. The Princeton researchers say the U.S.
spent $11.9 billion in 1979, but it dropped $4.3 billion in 1996
(constant dollars).
There is increasing evidence that the environmental costs of relying
on combustion energy technologies are unacceptably high, Margolis and Kammen argue. New energy technologies
are needed to address the threats of pollution and global climate change, and the modest reduction of carbon
emissions spelled out in the recent Kyoto accord requires more aggressive measures than are currently available.
"The energy sector's extremely low R&D intensity is a cause for concern not only today, but for decades to come,"
argue the researchers, because it takes many years for R&D investment to pay off.
Margolis and Kammen gauged the extent of the problem in two ways. First, they looked at how many new patents
are being issued. Generating patents is an important trait for industries that want to expand their productivity and
create new opportunities.
In general, the number of new patents in the U.S. is up. Counting all industries, such as medicine, industrial
chemicals and transportation, research and development spending rose from $100 billion to $200 billion between
1976 and 1996.
The number of patents closely tracked that increase, going from 70,000 to 110,000 annually over the same period.
In the energy sector, research and development spending numbers of new patents were also closely linked. Patents
rose from 102 in 1976 to a high of 228 in 1981, but then declined to a low of 54 in 1994.
"The trend is clearly going in the wrong direction and there appears to be a strong connection between the inputs and
the payoffs," Margolis said.
"If we don't increase the funds for energy technology R&D, then we will be heading down a dark path," says
Margolis. "The threats are serious."
Princeton University is one of the principal research centers in the world for one potential alternative energy source:
nuclear fusion. Scientists at Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory are starting tests on a new generation of fusion
generators. Margolis and Kammen are not affiliated with the Plasma Physics Laboratory and their study did not
specifically address fusion research.
Princeton also conducts research into alternative energy sources through its Center for Energy and Environmental
Studies.
© Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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