It's Not Easy Going Green
June / July 2006
Volume 4 Number 3
To maintain our country's competitive edge we simply have to generate not just new technologies, but transformational technologies—€”technologies that change the very nature of products. The American Competitiveness Initiative will continue to provide for the dominance of our economic activities, for our science and for our technologists. Out of that will come the development of alternative sources of energy that, in fact, will lead to the decrease of our dependence on foreign sources of energy. And that is why the president has committed himself to doubling the federal spending in the combined offices of the National Science Foundation, the NIST activity in the Department of Commerce and the Office of Science in the Department of Energy. That doubling will occur over the next 10 years.
Our people who deal in this area—€”and they are the professional scientists and administrators of scientists—€”truly believe that this is a historic opportunity for them and for our department. It is, in effect, a renaissance for United States science and global competitiveness. Our Office of Science is the major supporter of research and development in the physical sciences—€”mathematics, physics and chemistry—€”in the federal government; in fact, in the country. And we have had a growth under the president's leadership in overall research, but a large part of that has been in the life sciences. And if you look at the physical sciences and support for research in the physical sciences, it has been much closer to flat than increasing.
Our department maintains large-scale facilities and instruments that we build and operate—€”this is in the national laboratories that we manage—€”and from them we have helped contribute to America's leadership in the key scientific fields that have dominated the last century and that we believe will dominate the century that has just started. In this new century, those are the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, material science and high-speed computation.
Now, to support this research, the Office of Science develops and nurtures a highly trained scientific workforce for the civilian economy and for national security, because there is a link, obviously, between energy availability, new sources of energy and our national security. And this linkage between the private sector and the public sector is also something that we find very compelling and an important part of what we do.
So I'm particularly pleased to take note that the competitiveness initiative that will allow us to support about 2,600 more researchers in fiscal year —€˜07 than it will in —€˜06. So it will translate itself into a material change in our ability to provide resources for supporting the scientific endeavor of our country.
Keeping America competitive also requires abundant and affordable energy. Affordable energy requires technologies that will provide clean, reliable and economic solutions to the energy problems that confront us.
For example, sunlight provides, by far, the largest of all carbon-neutral energy sources that we have to work with. More energy from sunlight strikes the earth in one hour than all the energy consumed on our planet in one year. So we have a lot to work with. Now, we're exploring a number of novel technologies in the Energy Department—€”solar to electric; solar to fuels—€”directly using solar energy to go directly to fuels as well as solar to thermal conversions. And that's part of what we're endeavoring to do.
Fusion energy on earth can mimic the processes that power our sun. Fusion energy promises unlimited, safe and clean electricity for the world. It's a long way off, but we started the process over the last couple of years.
Other energy sources hold the promise of reshaping our transportation sector. Biofuels that are derived from plant cells, plant cell walls—€”they're otherwise known as cellulosic ethanol—€”could lead us from our current reliance on fossil fuels to clean, new domestic energy sources that we believe over time will transform our entire economy.
Now, these are breathtaking prospects. They are very doable, but they're very difficult undertakings, these various initiatives that I've mentioned. Our department is committed to their success, and the president is committed to providing the resources that we need to accomplish our goals.
Science is inextricably linked to our country's economy. It has been for the last 50 years, and I dare say it will be for the next 50 or 100 years. The United States has the best scientific resources on the globe. This initiative will mean that we will maintain that leadership position with respect to the facilities and resources—€”both the people and the equipment that's available.
The American Competitiveness Initiative will continue the dominance that our country has shown in the past and will continue into the foreseeable future. I believe that that future will be a very bright one for science, and it will be a very bright one for the American people.
This article is drawn from a press briefing given by Secretary Bodman on the American Competitiveness Initiative.
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