EU energy research lacks focus, study finds

The report, ‘The state and prospects of European energy research’ , published by the Commission on 30 January, compares community and member-state R&D portfolios with those of major competitors the US and Japan.

Paradoxically, while Europe as a whole (Commission and member states taken together) puts more public resources into non-nuclear energy research than the US and Japan, its efforts are often spread out and unconnected and end up delivering fewer results in return.
“Initially, it makes sense to have broad research objectives, not prioritising any technology on the basis of early indications of potential,” says Cordis, the Commission’s R&D news service.

But this strength can quickly turn into a weakness at a later stage as centralised systems are more flexible, the study argues. “The US and Japan can more easily prioritise their programmes and ruthlessly cut activities in areas which do not appear as having a future such as geothermal and ocean energy for Japan.”

EurActiv