The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Electric Power Technologies

Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. Large-scale installation of cleaner power generation has been generally hampered because greener technologies are more expensive than the technologies that currently produce most of our power. Rather than trade affordability and reliability for low emissions, is there a way to balance all three?

The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies considers how to speed up innovations that would dramatically improve the performance and lower the cost of currently available technologies while also developing new advanced cleaner energy technologies. According to this report, there is an opportunity for the United States to continue to lead in the pursuit of increasingly clean, more efficient electricity through innovation in advanced technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies makes the case that America's advantagesworld-class universities and national laboratories, a vibrant private sector, and innovative states, cities, and regions that are free to experiment with a variety of public policy approachesposition the United States to create and lead a new clean energy revolution. This study focuses on five paths to accelerate the market adoption of increasing clean energy and efficiency technologies: (1) expanding the portfolio of cleaner energy technology options; (2) leveraging the advantages of energy efficiency; (3) facilitating the development of increasing clean technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and cleaner fossil; (4) improving the existing technologies, systems, and infrastructure; and (5) leveling the playing field for cleaner energy technologies.

The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies is a call for leadership to transform the United States energy sector in order to both mitigate the risks of greenhouse gas and other pollutants and to spur future economic growth. This study's focus on science, technology, and economic policy makes it a valuable resource to guide support that produces innovation to meet energy challenges now and for the future.

• Front Matter
• Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Assessment of Current Technologies for and Policies Supporting Increasingly Clean Electric Power Generation
• 3 Supporting and Strengthening the Energy Innovation Process to Expand the Technological Base for Increasingly Clean Electric Power
• 4 The Role of Energy Efficiency in Increasingly Clean Electricity
• 5 Addressing the Unique Challenges to the Development and Deployment of Nuclear Power, Carbon Capture and Storage, and Renewable Fuel Power Technologies
• 6 Modernizing the Electric Power System to Support the Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Technologies
• 7 Policies Supporting Increasingly Clean Electric Power Technologies
• References
• Appendix A: Committee Biographies
• Appendix B: Benchmark Levelized Cost of Electricity Estimates
• Appendix C: The Role of Research, Learning, and Technology Deployment in Clean Energy Innovation
• Appendix D: Technology Readiness
• Appendix E: Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations