Strategic Focus - Arguably, most energy R&D being conducted in the United States today addresses known or existing energy system needs and problems with new scientific knowledge, materials, components or processes. We call this translational R&D. Four examples of translational R&D are provided in the table below.
At elab, we look "outside-the-box" and use alternative thinking to develop systems-level solutions to difficult energy challenges by:
- Looking beyond today's known needs and requirements by envisioning what future energy systems might consist of and pursuing opportunities for bringing entirely new core capabilities to existing energy systems.
- Creating new paradigms and R&D market space by assembling interdisciplinary teams from across the University and partnering institutions to understand existing energy system paradigms that underpin ongoing incremental and translational energy R&D. We then used a systematic approach to develop new energy system paradigms that create new R&D market space.
- Filling the innovative gap between fundamental discoveries in science and existing energy technologies.
- Accelerating development and lower technical risk until ideas either prove their promise and can be transitioned to the private sector or do not gain traction and are eliminated.
The table below identifies four current and emerging USU energy lab research priorities showing the progression of research from incremental to transformational when viewed from an energy systems perspective.
Categorizing research as incremental, translational or transformational depends on the level from which it is being viewed. Most transformational energy R&D being conducted today occurs at the component, process, or material level rather than systems-level. An example of this is shown in the illustration below. Research on hydrogen fuel cells, for example, is transformational when viewed from an on-board energy storage and propulsion technology for vehicles, but the same research fits within the existing paradigm for surface transportation when viewed from a systems-level perspective e.g., self-propelled cars and trucks; controlled by humans; driven on conventional highways; using energy stored on-board. Hydrogen fuel cells do nothing to combat other transportation challenges such as highway safety, land-use, and congestion. By dissecting systems-level paradigms, it’s possible to envision new approaches that address energy challenges more broadly.
Unfortunately, the risks associated with systems-level transformation are often more than just technical or financial in nature. They generally require research that crosscuts organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. Many are old, previously discarded, ideas made possible by recent technological advances or new financial, political, or social realities. Often, transformational ideas are considered too radical and risky by insiders institutionally, politically, and financially invested in existing paradigms and associated R&D programs. Because of this, ongoing U.S. DOE R&D initiatives generally avoid transformation at the systems-level. Consider the three examples on the following page.
USU Energy Lab's Role - elab will focus on transformational energy research at the systems level because that’s where we believe the biggest impact on America’s energy future can be realized. To identify and develop new systems-level transformational energy R&D programs, elab first identified existing energy system paradigms and then new paradigms from which to develop new R&D initiatives as illustrated in Table 5.
Unlike private industry or government-owned, contractor-operated Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC), universities are organizationally-independent from shareholders and government owners, respectively. This independence comes with many positives and a few negatives. On the positive side, universities are not encumbered by institutional motivations to continue down or conform to predetermined and well-funded R&D pathways and the pressures from parent organizations to focus on either near-term profits or existing “in-the-box” agency priorities. In addition, universities inherently have a steady flow of fresh faces with new ideas undeterred by impediments of the past. Young people have fresh perspectives and are more willing to take the socio-scientific risk of championing new, idealistic, out-of-the-box ideas that can be disruptive and challenge the status quo. Finally, universities have a pool of faculty both knowledgeable and well-grounded in the fundamentals of virtually every scientific and engineering discipline needed to develop new energy systems. For these reasons, universities, like USU, are poised as hotbeds for high-risk, high-payoff, interdisciplinary solutions to America’s energy challenges. Unfortunately, because universities have a primary mission of education, they often lack the organizational/process structures or resources necessary to facilitate interdisciplinary teaming across departments and colleges. This makes competing with large government laboratories with massive and dedicated intellectual and physical assets difficult. This is especially true in the U.S. where FFRDC’s have direct, well-established conduits to federal sponsors and the current federal energy R&D business model favors DOE national “lead” laboratories over universities and industry. Unfortunately, these labs are encumbered by institutional self-interests to continue ”in-the-box” R&D pathways, conform to predetermined technology roadmaps and the subtle pressures of parent agencies to focus on existing priorities under their jurisdiction. Recognizing the enormous opportunities, technical challenges, institutional barriers, and multifaceted risks associated with these new R&D initiatives, elab has determined it imperative to develop interdisciplinary teams as well as public and private partnerships with other universities, DOE national labs, and industry to help advance each of its areas of research.