Energy Research at DOE

In legislation appropriating funds for DOE's fiscal year (FY) 2000 energy RD budget, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee directed an evaluation of the benefits that have accrued to the nation from the RD conducted since 1978 in DOE's energy efficiency and fossil energy programs. In response to the congressional charge, the National Research Council formed the Committee on Benefits of DOE RD on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy.From its inception, DOE's energy RD program has been the subject of many outside evaluations. The present evaluation asks whether the benefits of the program have justified the considerable expenditure of public funds since DOE's formation in 1977, and, unlike earlier evaluations, it takes a comprehensive look at the actual outcomes of DOE's research over two decades.