The Role of Federal R&D in Advancing Energy Efficiency-A $50 Billion Contribution

Howard Geller, Jeffrey Harris, Mark Levine, and Arthur Rosenfeld

1987

Introduction

Increasing energy efficiency is an important national goal. Improved energy efficiency can sharply cut the $400 billion annual energy bill for our economy, buys us time to diversify our long-term energy options, reduce dependence on energy imports, improve national security, and mitigate a number of environmental problems.

We have already made huge gains in reducing energy use per dollar of GNP. If today's economy consumed energy at the rate of the 1973 economy, we would be importing twice as much oil and spending an extra $130 billion per year for energy.

The economy can still achieve large, cost-effective improvements in energy efficiency, both by using technology that has evolved in recent years and by taking advantage of technological opportunities that will result from ongoing research. We can add to the gains of the past decade; engineering analyses indicate significant opportunities for cost-effective energy efficiency measures in all sectors of the economy.

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1987, $6.00, E871