An effective energy policy cannot form without drastic changes in research structure and mindset, ASU President Michael Crow told the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
Speaking as part of a presentation by the Brookings Institution, a public-policy think tank, and broadcast live over the Internet, Crow outlined five steps that must be taken to reform the energy policy in the United States.
“We could find all the money that we could possibly print, which is what we do with money these days, and pour it into this problem and it wouldn't actually allow us … to move in the right direction,” Crow said.
The first step to solve the problem involves what Crow called focusing on outcomes, not inputs.
Most institutions measure their scientific success by the amount of money they spend on science, he said, not on what they produce.
“We need to start thinking about … the outcome that we actually hope to achieve, regardless of what the outcome costs,” he said.
Additionally, increasing cooperation between the public and private sectors leads to a whole new way of approaching research, Crow said.
As an example, he mentioned how the U.S. Army asked ASU for help in developing flexible display technology that a soldier could wear on his or her uniform.
“Thirty companies, the Army, the University and everybody else that you can possibly imagine [are] focused on a cooperative venture,” he said. “There’s one objective: Produce this technology and deploy it.”
Crow’s other steps to redesign American energy policy include strengthening the link between research and entrepreneurship and building thousands of institutions structured for high-speed engagement in small-scale solutions.
Such institutions were the highlight of the Brookings Institution’s event. Their proposal to find solutions for America’s energy problems calls for what they named “energy discovery-innovation institutes.”
Amy Liu, deputy director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, said these institutes will consist of universities, federal labs, venture capitalists and several others working together to create and commercialize alternative energy sources.
“If done right, this concept … will yield a three-pronged prosperity — high productivity, energy and environmental sustainability and an inclusive economy that engages and expands the skills and opportunities of our workers,” Liu said. “The universities are an important part of this equation because they are not only the anchor institutions but very much the foundation for learning, innovation and work-force development.”
Along with ASU, the University of Michigan and Ohio State University are working with Brookings to create the network of energy development-innovation institutes.
Liu said that Jim Duderstadt, emeritus president of UM, had worked to focus his university on energy research.
This caught the Brookings Institution’s attention, and they decided to start a national effort, Liu said, which spread to ASU and OSU.
Duderstadt said federal research activities have failed to engage research universities, which are capable of building and maintaining the energy infrastructure.
“We’re suggesting a new federal approach,” he said. “The complexity and scale of the nation’s energy challenges demand that we engage the third leg: America’s research universities.”
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.
