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Bush Establishes DARPA for Energy

A new agency will fund risky research that just might pay off.

Friday, August 10, 2007

By Kevin Bullis

For years, various organizations have pushed for a new federal agency focused on quickly developing new technology for solving our energy woes. Last week, President Bush signed into law a bill that provides for just such an agency, although it has yet to receive any funding.

The new agency, called the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), is modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funds high-risk (read: unlikely to pay off), cutting edge, and sometimes harebrained research related to defense. DARPA has had some success. It grew out of an agency that launched the Internet, and it has sponsored a "grand challenge" program that led to a robotic SUV that can navigate new terrain on its own. Some of its ideas have been, well, less than inspired.

Will it work for energy? There are certainly areas that need out-of-the-box thinking, such as ways to break theoretical limits for solar cells or ways to convert carbon-dioxide emissions into fuels. Maybe the agency can find good ideas that are now slipping through the cracks.

But what is desperately needed is a coherent policy that will push industry and government to implement the technologies available now that can make a difference, such as variable valve timing on gasoline engines, clean diesel, and advanced hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology. The president has threatened to veto an energy bill now before Congress that would take steps to doing just that.

Tags: energy, ARPA-E, robotic elephants, DARPA, Congress, President Bush

Comments

	ARPA-E - Good Job Mr. Prez mkogrady on 08/13/2007 at 3:32 PM
Posts: 72 Avg Rating:	As concerned voters, we need to make sure this has a place in the elections and ongoing race to energy independence (i.e. budgets, patents, licensing) and making sure any technology gets applied here in the states first. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Actual Athorization Amount b.hagan on 08/13/2007 at 7:50 PM
Posts: 1	After the conference agreement, the bill only authorized $300,000,000 in FY 2008. To little, too late. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: Actual Athorization Amount rlindsl on 08/15/2007 at 12:42 PM
Posts: 7 Avg Rating:	Exactly 300M more than I ever thought would come from an admistration spawned of petroleum. Want more? Elect a democrat, this is the camel's nose under the tent... Rate this comment: (Reply)

	DARPA Abolitionist on 08/13/2007 at 10:44 PM
Posts: 6 Avg Rating:	Energy efficiency is already related to defense capacities. The military consumes a great deal of resources and fuel - have they only begun to care about this? why create a separate entity? It's a public perception tool. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: DARPA stree3 on 08/13/2007 at 11:21 PM
Posts: 1	It's possible ARPAFE is just a fluffernutter from a spin factory, but it could eventually become a real value. Darpa has lost great opportunities due to their single intuitive narrow mind concept. So why not let some new minds also throw cash around,, they might hit where the closed minds at Darpa missed. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Darpa's efforts Abolitionist on 08/13/2007 at 10:54 PM
Posts: 6 Avg Rating:	What makes one believe that DARPA will be open about it's activities, results of research, and accumulated knowledge base? The desire for a sense of comfort. By definition they seek nationalistic superiority without self-imposed limitations and accountability to any regulatory body. Why should they behave ethically or for the good of mankind and global scientific understanding? They don't - history has proven this. Instead they seek to identify new technologies that can influence national defense (just about everything) and keep the powerful technologies secret while controlling public knowledge and opinion. Control for nationalistic superiority. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Coherent policy Abolitionist on 08/13/2007 at 10:59 PM
Posts: 6 Avg Rating:	"But what is desperately needed is a coherent policy that will push industry and government to implement the technologies available now that can make a difference, such as variable valve timing on gasoline engines, clean diesel, and advanced hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology. The president has threatened to veto an energy bill now before Congress that would take steps to doing just that." --- Coherent policy. In order for policy to be logically coherent (for a global society rather than a nationalistic power) a logical prime directive must be identified. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Hey, ARPA-E guys... take a look at my "Wind Energy Skyscrapers" >>> Gaetano Marano on 08/14/2007 at 11:53 AM
Posts: 55 Avg Rating:	. Hey, ARPA-E guys... take a look at my "Wind Energy Skyscrapers" >>> http://www.gaetanomarano.it/articles/028energy.html . Rate this comment: (Reply)