Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

Executive Summary
Pages 1-8

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 1...
... 2000 energy R&D budget, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee directed an evaluation of the benefits that have accrued to the nation from the R&D conducted since 1978 in DOE's energy efficiency and fossil energy programs. In response to the congressional charge, the National Research Council formed the Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy (the committee)
From page 2...
... Depending on the outcomes of the R&D undertaken, the principal benefit of a program, for example, may be the knowledge gained and not necessarily realized economic benefits. The matrix shown in Figure ES-1 and discussed below provides an accounting framework for the consistent, comprehensive assessment of the benefits and costs of the fossil energy and energy efficiency R&D programs.
From page 3...
... Case Studies To assess the benefits of the energy efficiency and fossil energy programs within this evaluation framework, the com E~~ Developnnent| Technology | Technology Development 1 Technology Policy Conditions \ Developed in Progress Development Failed Will be favorable for Realized benefits Knowledge benefits I Knowledge benefits commercialization Might become favorable Options benefits ~ Knowledge benefits ~ Knowledge benefits for commercialization ~ ~ ~ Will not become favorable Knowledge benefits ~ Knowledge benefits I Knowledge benefits I for commercialization l l FIGURE ES-2 Derivation of columns for the benefits matrix.
From page 4...
... The 17 case studies represent $1.6 billion, or about 20 percent, of the total $7.3 billion energy efficiency TABLE ES-1 Energy Efficiency Technology Case Studies Slotted in the Matnx Cells That Are Most Relevant Today Type of Benefit Realized Benefits Options Benefits Knowledge Benefits Economic benefits (net life-cycle energy cost reductions) Environmental benefits Low-e glass Electronic ballasts Advanced refrigerators Advanced turbine systems Oxygen-fueled glass furnace Lost foam casting DOE-2 (applied to design)
From page 5...
... CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The committee found that DOE's RD&D programs in fossil energy and energy efficiency have yielded significant benefits (economic, environmental, and national security-related) , important technological options for potential application in a different (but possible)
From page 6...
... Although the committee was not always able to separate the DOE contribution from that of others, the net realized economic benefits in the energy efficiency and fossil energy programs were judged by the committee to be in excess of the DOE investment. In the programs reviewed by the committee in the energy efficiency area, most of the realized economic benefits to date are attributable to three relatively modest projects in the building sector carried out in the late 1970s and 1980s and continuing into the 1990s.
From page 7...
... Industry incurs significant costs to commercialize technology developed in DOE programs, and especially in the assessment of economic benefits these costs should be documented where possible. Portfolio Management The committee's review of the fossil energy and energy efficiency programs underscores the significant changes in energy policy during the nearly three decades of the programs' existence.
From page 8...
... The committee found that DOE RD&D programs in fossil energy and energy efficiency have developed greater flexibility and sensitivity to the needs of the relevant industrial sectors over the past 15 years. The committee applauds this trend and urges that DOE policy makers continue to explore creative and adaptive solutions to the requirements of collaborative RD&D in very diverse industrial sectors.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.