Clare Zhang in AIP:
Prioritizing fundamental research over deployment
Project 2025 looks to focus the Department of Energy on fundamental research that the private sector would not otherwise conduct, arguing that many current DOE programs “act as subsidies to the private sector for government-favored resources.” It proposes eliminating many of the agency’s offices focused on energy technology development as well as programs focused on climate change.
The DOE chapter is authored by Bernard McNamee, who worked in the department during the first Trump administration and later was picked by Trump to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2018 to 2020. McNamee proposes that DOE prioritize and consolidate its programs based on factors such as relevance to national security, energy security, and scientific discovery. He also calls for a “whole-of-government assessment and consolidation of science,” arguing that recent moves to expand the National Science Foundation’s focus on technology commercialization were “ill-advised.”
At DOE, he suggests eliminating the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy as well as offices dedicated to renewable energy, carbon management, technology demonstrations, and loans. If these organizations continue to exist, he proposes reallocating their funding from commercialization and deployment to fundamental research, particularly for countering cyber and physical threats to energy security.
More here.
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