On September 10, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz released the 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR) in Washington, DC. NASEO attended the release event, which was held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The QTR examines the status of the science and technology underpinning the US energy system, as well as related research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) opportunities to advance technologies. The QTR has four overarching themes, including:
• Convergence – energy sectors and systems are increasingly interacting and interconnected;
• Diversification in Supply and Demand – multiple technologies, fuels, and modes create opportunities for flexibility and challenges for infrastructure and operations;
• Confluence – advances in cloud computing, data management, materials, sensors and controls create opportunities at many scales;
• Efficiency – improving efficiency at every step in the energy value chain and system-wide will use resources wisely, contain costs, and reduce climate impacts.
The 2015 QTR complements the work of the first Quadrennial Energy Review (QER), which focused on energy infrastructure, and pending second QER, which will focus on the electricity system and end use applications.
For more information on the QTR and to download the full report, please click here.