State Perspectives on Research, Development, and Demonstration

The document argues that the US is losing its leadership in energy storage to countries like China and requires strategic federal RD&D to overcome private sector investment gaps. It identifies critical research priorities—including long-duration storage, systems integration, and cost reduction—and recommends a diverse portfolio of high-risk research, expanded public-private partnerships, and the creation of a federal energy storage roadmap.

• The United States is losing its global leadership in energy storage technology, with China already dominating markets for key battery manufacturing components and planning major demonstration projects over the next decade.
• Private sector investment in electricity storage RD&D is insufficient because venture capital has limited patience for the long return times of storage technologies, and the utility industry is risk-averse, spending less than 0.5 percent of revenues on R&D.
• Critical technical research priorities include extending battery supply duration from the current four-hour lithium-ion standard to eight hours or more, improving systems integration for grid resilience, and lowering capital costs through materials science and battery recycling.
• Market barriers exist because public utility commissions (PUCs) struggle to assign value to energy storage, as it does not fit neatly into traditional asset classes of generation or distribution/load.
• Federal funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) is significantly lower than previously recommended; in FY2018, it was funded at $353 million, whereas a 2007 National Academy of Sciences report recommended stabilizing funding at $1 billion per year.
• The Department of Defense (DOD) is identified as a critical first adopter and testbed for new storage technologies due to its multi-megawatt deployment needs over the next five to 10 years.
• Experts recommend that the Department of Energy (DOE) collaborate with other agencies to create a comprehensive Energy Storage RD&D Roadmap to establish long-term targets and increase coordination between programs like the Office of Electricity Delivery and ARPA-E.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2018). State Perspectives on Research, Development, and Demonstration. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/07/federal-energy-storage-convening-summary.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. State Perspectives on Research, Development, and Demonstration. 2018. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/07/federal-energy-storage-convening-summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=State Perspectives on Research, Development, and Demonstration |date=July 2018 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/07/federal-energy-storage-convening-summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2018state, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{State Perspectives on Research, Development, and Demonstration}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/07/federal-energy-storage-convening-summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }