Putting Energy Innovation First

The report identifies systemic failures within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including the distraction of nuclear weapons and cleanup missions, a fragmented 'stovepipe' organizational structure, and a lack of objective program evaluation. It recommends consolidating energy and science programs under a single Under Secretary, shifting the focus of applied R&D from energy sources to end-uses, and restoring the Government Owned, Contractor Operated (GOCO) model for national laboratories. The authors advocate for structured public-private consortia to drive pre-commercial research and suggest that large-scale 'first-of-a-kind' commercial demonstrations be led by the private sector rather than the DOE. Additionally, the report proposes moving nuclear weapons and nonproliferation missions to the Department of Defense and environmental cleanup to the Army Corps of Engineers or the EPA to allow DOE leadership to focus exclusively on energy innovation.

• The DOE's primary focus is diverted by nuclear weapons and environmental cleanup missions, which consume a disproportionate share of funding and leadership attention compared to energy innovation.
• The DOE's organizational structure is fragmented into technology-specific 'stovepipes' based on energy sources (e.g., fossil, nuclear, renewable) rather than end-uses, which encourages factionalism and political rather than analytical budgeting.
• There is a significant disconnect between the DOE's basic research (managed by the Office of Science) and its applied research, resulting in a 'weak innovation chain' that lacks coordination and a systematic portfolio review process.
• The Government Owned, Contractor Operated (GOCO) model of national laboratories has deteriorated due to excessive DOE micromanagement, focusing on transactional audits rather than strategic outcomes.
• DOE has a poor track record with large-scale 'first-of-a-kind' (FOAK) commercial demonstrations, exemplified by the failure of the FutureGen project, due to federal administrative burdens and political volatility.
• Public-private partnerships at DOE have often been undermined by high-profile politicization and 'rebranding' by successive presidential administrations, which disrupts technical progress.
• DOE's international activities are characterized as largely ceremonial and of limited value, consisting of bilateral agreements that rarely produce substantive results.
• A significant portion of DOE funding is diverted away from actual research and development by administrative costs, lab overhead, and non-innovation deployment programs.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2013). Putting Energy Innovation First. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/21093652/Putting_Energy_Innovation_First-1.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Putting Energy Innovation First. 2013. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/21093652/Putting_Energy_Innovation_First-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Putting Energy Innovation First |date=April 2013 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/21093652/Putting_Energy_Innovation_First-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2013putting, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Putting Energy Innovation First}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2013}, month = apr, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/21093652/Putting_Energy_Innovation_First-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }