Government Support, grants & Subsidies for Alternative Energy
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is located in Golden, Colorado and is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It is the United States' primary lab for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D. It was established in 1974, and by 1977, it started operating as the Solar Energy Research Institute. NREL is the principal research lab for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) which provides the majority of its funding.
In 2007, when US President George Bush gave the State of the Union address, he put forth a call to increase federal grants for alternate energy R&D by 22 percent. Shortly before, NREL was in process of laying off its employees and contractors. The message Bush gave in his address triggered NREL to re-hire the workforce they had laid off. The support government was offering to work in alternative energy through tax breaks, research grants and other such incentives to continue the research and development in alternative energies was well received by NREL as well as the public.
NREL's R&D capabilities are geared towards furthering the country's energy goals by developing innovations that will change the energy base we today use to carry out various functions in our homes, commercial complexes, and vehicles. Their R&D functions work to develop alternative energy and related technologies using their full R&D life-cycle (from basic research to applied research and engineering, testing, scale-up, and a final demo of the developed capabilities). NREL's R&D expertise areas include:
- Renewable electricity
- Renewable fuels
- Integrated energy systems
- Strategic energy analysis
NREL is the country's leader in National Bioenergy Center. This is a virtual center, having no physical office or buildings. The lab's researchers and scientists strive to support important market goals to research alternative energy solutions that would be market-viable. NREL's R&D areas provide strategic direction to their work. These areas cover knowledge branches like understanding the resources for renewable energy and being able to convert them to fuel and electricity such that they can be used in commercial buildings, vehicles and residences. This lab works towards the nation's goals to discover the effective alternative energy sources that can continue to provide fuel for our economy.
NREL has many areas of R&D expertness in alternative energy. It targets areas for research like alternative sources of electricity (e.g., geothermal energy, wind energy, biomass energy, solar energy). It performs R&D in renewable fuels (e.g., hydrogen fuel cells, biodiesel fuels and biomass) to power vehicles. It also develops plans for performing integrated system engineering. This includes using alternative energy in transportation infrastructures, electrical grids buildings, and delivery systems. The lab also engages in strategic development of renewable energy objectives.
The lab also has a Technology Transfer department that partners with private sector and supports the scientists and engineers to practically apply their expertise and technologies developed to earn a living. The lab staff has been recognized by private industry for their expertise, and collaborate with the private sector on hundreds of projects related to alternative energy technologies.