On September 10, the Department of Energy released its second Quadrennial Technology Review (2015 QTR). A robust 505 pages, the 2015 QTR examines the current status of and current and future challenges facing the nation’s energy system. It also examines research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) opportunities across energy technologies that can help address these challenges and create secure, resilient, economically efficient, and environmentally responsible energy systems. The QTR breaks down the analysis of the nation’s energy system into analyses of six individual sectors:
(1) the electric grid; (2) electricity production; (3) residential and commercial buildings; (4) manufacturing; (5) fuels, including fuels for electricity production and for transportation; and (6) transportation. The first QTR, which was released in 2011, is available here.
On a related note, in April, 2015, DOE released the first installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review (2015 QER). The 2015 QER examines the issue of modernizing the nation’s energy infrastructure, and is focused on the nation’s energy transmission, storage, and distribution systems. The report includes an analysis of opportunities created by these systems to promote a clean, secure, and economically competitive energy future, and potential vulnerabilities in the systems. The 2015 QER also proposes policy recommendations and investments to replace, protect, expand, and modernize infrastructure.
