This chapter also is available as a PDF file.

Hardcopy versions of the full report can be ordered from the the Global Change Research Information Office online catalog.

See also:

Press release (dated 20 September 2006)

Chapter 2: Vision, Mission, Goals, and Approaches

CCTP constitutes the technology component of a comprehensive U.S. approach to climate change that includes undertaking short-term actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity, advancing climate change science, and promoting international cooperation. CCTP's purpose is to accelerate the development, and reduce the cost of, new and advanced technologies, as well as promote the deployment of advanced technologies and best practices that could avoid, reduce, or capture and store GHG emissions. CCTP was established by President Bush to implement his National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI) and coordinate existing efforts. This initiative brings to bear America's strengths in innovation and technology to address climate change concerns.

CCTP provides strategic direction and leadership through interagency coordination of R&D planning, programming, and budgeting. To support these functions, CCTP conducts analyses, technology assessments, and progress reviews. CCTP's interagency working groups have representatives from all participating agencies, and this Plan is an important product of this interagency effort.

The focus of this Plan is technology research, development, demonstration, and deployment, and it provides a broad roadmap to the future. It does not, however, provide detailed roadmaps for specific technologies. Such roadmaps are referenced in the appropriate sections throughout the document. Moreover, the Plan does not, nor is it intended to, provide a comprehensive mitigation strategy. It is not a policy document. It does not, for example, address technology incentives (e.g., tax credits) or regulation (e.g., energy efficiency standards), but it does set a course for evaluating such policies. Further, the Plan makes no judgments as to what constitutes a dangerous level of GHGs in the atmosphere. For century-long planning, the technology portfolio must be designed to be robust in the face of a range of plausible concentration target scenarios. Finally, the Plan is not a budget document, but provides a framework to set budget priorities.

The Plan was prepared by an interagency team and includes the contributions of a broad range of government and non-government experts from many different disciplines. It is a "first-of-its-kind" document that provides a comprehensive, long-term look at the nature of the climate change challenge and defines clear and promising roles for advanced technologies. CCTP has also published other reports (Figure 2-1).

Figure 2-1. CCTP has a number of publications that are available online.

Research and Current Activities

Vision and Framework for Strategy and Planning

Technology Options For the Near and Long Term

This chapter outlines the vision, mission, strategic goals, core approaches, R&D prioritization process, and management of the program.

2.1 Vision and Mission

The CCTP Vision is to attain on a global scale, in partnership with others, a technological capability that can provide abundant, clean, secure, and affordable energy and other services needed to encourage and sustain economic growth, while simultaneously achieving substantial reductions in emissions of GHGs and mitigating the potential risks of climate change and increasing GHG concentrations.

The CCTP Mission is to stimulate and strengthen the scientific and technological enterprise of the United States, through improved coordination and prioritization of multi-agency Federal climate change technology R&D programs and investments, and to provide global leadership, in partnership with others, aimed at accelerating development and facilitating adoption of technologies that can attain the CCTP vision.

CCTP will strive to stimulate and strengthen the scientific and technological enterprise of the United States, through improved coordination and prioritization of multi-agency Federal climate change technology R&D programs and investments. CCTP will provide support to decision-makers so that they can address issues, make informed decisions, weigh priorities on related science and technology matters, and provide strategic direction. It will do this through recommendations based on multi-agency planning, portfolio reviews, interagency coordination, technical assessments, and other analyses. CCTP will also continue to work with and support the participating agencies in developing plans and carrying out activities needed to achieve the CCTP's vision and strategic goals (CCTP Mission).

2.2 Strategic Goals

Set against this backdrop is the growing global appetite for energy to power economic growth and development. Energy-related GHG emissions account for over four-fifths of total anthropogenic emissions, and the technologies employed to produce and use energy will have a direct bearing on future emissions. Different countries will approach climate objectives in different ways and in the context of other urgent needs. For most developing countries, the overriding goal will continue to be economic development to reduce poverty and advance human well-being. Increased global energy use is needed to help lift out of poverty the nearly two billion people who lack even the most basic access to modern energy services. Addressing this "energy poverty" is one of the world's key development objectives, as lack of energy services is associated with high rates of disease and child mortality.

All countries can be expected to seek to ensure that energy sources are secure, affordable, and reliable, and to seek approaches that address other environmental concerns, in addition to climate change, such as air pollution and conservation. Opportunities for new and advanced technologies that can address multiple societal objectives, including GHG reduction, present themselves in a number of areas.

These opportunities form the basis for CCTP's six strategic goals as follows:

1. Reduce emissions from energy end use and infrastructure.
2. Reduce emissions from energy supply.
   
3. Capture and sequester carbon dioxide.
   
4. Reduce emissions of non-carbon dioxide GHGs.
5. Improve capabilities to measure and monitor GHG emissions.
   
6. Bolster basic science contributions to technology development.

These six CCTP strategic goals focus primarily on mitigating GHG emissions to make progress toward stabilizing atmospheric GHG concentrations. They are not intended to encompass the broad array of technical challenges and opportunities that may arise from climate change. These may include such research areas as: mitigating vulnerabilities and adaptation of natural and human systems to climate change; addressing effects of acidification of the oceans; geoengineering to reduce radiative forcing through modification of the Earth's surface albedo or stratospheric sunlight scattering; and others. Such topics are important, but they are beyond the scope of this Plan.

Figure 2-2. A major and growing source of GHG emissions is closely tied to transportation. Credit: iStockphoto

CCTP Goal 1
Reduce Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure

In addition, application of advanced technology to the electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure (the "grid") can have dual effects on reducing GHG emissions. First, there is a direct contribution to energy and CO₂ reductions resulting from increased efficiency in the T&D system itself. Second, there can be an indirect contribution by enabling, through modernized systems, expanded use of low-emission electricity and distributed generating technologies (such as wind, cogeneration of heat and power, geothermal, and solar power), and by improved management of system-wide energy supply and demand. Emissions reduction from energy efficiency gains and reduced energy use could be among the most important contributors to strategies aimed at overall CO₂ emissions reduction.

Types of technological advancements and deployment activities applicable to this goal include, but are not limited to:

• Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Equipment. Development and increased use of highly efficient motor vehicles and transportation systems, buildings equipment and envelopes, industrial combustion and process technology, and components of the electricity grid can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, avoid other kinds of environmental impacts, and reduce the life-cycle costs of delivering the desired products and services. Process technology includes non-energy sources of CO₂, such as the calcination of carbonates to produce cement and lime.
  
  
• Transition Technologies. So-called "transition" technologies, such as high-efficiency natural gas-fired power plants, are not completely free of GHG emissions, but are capable of achieving significant reductions of GHG emissions in the near and mid terms by significantly improving or displacing higher GHG-emitting technologies in use today. Ideally, transition technologies would also be compatible with more advanced GHG-free technologies that would follow in the future.
  
  
• Enabling Technologies. Enabling technologies contribute indirectly to the reduction of GHG emissions by making possible the development and use of other important technologies. The example of a modernized electricity grid, mentioned above, is seen as an essential step for enabling the deployment of more advanced end-use technologies and distributed energy resources that can reduce GHG emissions. An intelligent electricity grid integrated with smart end-use equipment would further raise system performance. Another example is storage technologies for electricity or other energy carriers.
  
  
• Alternatives to Industrial Processes, Feedstocks, and Materials. Manufacturing, mining, agriculture, construction, services, and other commercial and industrial activities will require feedstocks and other material inputs to production. [3] In addition to the energy efficiency improvements discussed above, opportunities for lowering CO₂ and other GHG emissions from industrial and commercial activities include: replacing current feedstocks with those produced through processes (or complete resource cycles) that have low or net-zero GHG emissions (e.g., bio-based feedstocks); reducing the average energy intensity of material inputs; and developing alternatives to current industrial processes and products.
  
  
• Improved Land Use and Management Practices. Improved land use and management practices can reduce emissions of CO₂ in agriculture through energy-efficient and conservation practices. Additionally, long-term local and regional planning can help integrate and optimize residential, business, and transportation systems.

Figure 2-3. Earth's city lights suggest where the world's energy use is concentrated. Advanced technologies in various forms of energy supply, including electricity generation, could significantly reduce or avoid future GHG emissions. Credit: Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmons, NASA GSFC

CCTP Goal 2
Reduce Emissions from Energy Supply

• Electricity. Electricity will remain an important energy carrier in the global economy in the future (Figure 2-3). While substantial improvements in efficiency can reduce the growth of electricity consumption, the prospects of increased electrification and growing demand, especially in the developing regions of the world, still imply significant increases in electricity supply. Reducing GHG emissions from electricity supply could be achieved through further improvements in the efficiency of fossil-based electricity generation technologies, deployment of renewable technologies, increased use of fossil-fuel-based power systems in conjunction with CO₂ capture and sequestration (see Goal 3), increased use of nuclear energy, and the development of fusion energy or other novel power sources.
• Hydrogen, Bio-Based, and Low-Carbon Fuels. The world economy will have a continuing need for portable, storable energy carriers for heat, power, and transportation. A promising energy carrier is hydrogen, which can be produced in a variety of ways, including carbon-free or low-carbon methods using nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, solar energy, biomass, or fossil fuels combined with carbon capture and sequestration. Hydrogen and other carriers, such as methanol, ethanol, and other biofuels, could serve both as a means for energy storage and as energy carriers in transportation and other applications, if such carriers were to be produced by carbon-free or low-carbon methods.

CCTP Goal 3
Capture and Sequester Carbon Dioxide

• Carbon Capture and Storage. Advanced techniques are under development that could capture CO₂ from such sources as coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, hydrogen production facilities, and various high-emitting industrial processes. Carbon capture would be linked to geologic storage - long-term storage in geologic formations, such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs, deep coal seams, saline aquifers, other deep injection reservoirs, and chemical or other forms of storage (Figure 2-4).

Figure 2-4. Capture, storage, and other forms of CO₂ sequestration could significantly reduce emissions to the atmosphere and slow the growth of GHG concentrations. Credit: DOE/NETL

• CO₂ Sequestration. Land-based, biologically- assisted means for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and sequestering it in trees, soils, or other organic materials have proven to be relatively low-cost means for long-term carbon storage. Enhancing the ocean's biological CO₂ sink could also play a role. An understanding of the efficacy and environmental effects of the preceding approaches is needed.

CCTP Goal 4
Reduce Emissions of Non-CO₂ GHGs

• Methane Collection and Utilization. Improvements in methods and technologies to collect methane and detect leaks from various sources, such as landfills (Figure 2-5), coal mines, natural gas pipelines, and oil and gas exploration operations, can prevent this GHG from escaping to the atmosphere. These methods are often cost-effective, because the collected methane is a fuel that can be used directly or sold at natural gas market prices.
• Reducing N₂O and Methane Emissions from Agriculture. Improved agricultural management practices and technologies, including altering application practices in the use of fertilizers for crop production, dealing with livestock waste, and improved management practices in rice production, are key components of the strategy to reduce other GHGs.
• Reducing Use of High Global-Warming-Potential (GWP) Gases. Hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons have substituted for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in a number of industries, including refrigeration, air conditioning, foam blowing, solvent cleaning, fire suppression, and aerosol propellants. These and other high-GWP synthetic gases are generally used in applications where they are important to complex manufacturing processes or provide safety and system reliability, such as in semiconductor manufacturing, electric power transmission and distribution, and magnesium production and casting. Because they have high GWPs, methods to reduce leakage and use of these chemicals can contribute to UNFCCC goal attainment and include the development of lower-GWP alternatives to achieve the same purposes.
• Black Carbon Aerosols. Programs aimed at reducing airborne particulate matter have led to significant advances in fuel combustion and emission control technologies in both transportation and power generation sectors. Further advances can continue to reduce future black carbon aerosol emissions. Reduced emissions of black carbon, soot, and other chemical aerosols can have multiple benefits. Apart from improving public health and air quality, they can reduce radiative forcing in the atmosphere.

Figure 2-5. Emissions of gases other than CO₂, such methane from landfills, coal mining operations, and natural gas pipelines, add to greenhouse concentrations in the atmosphere. Their capture and return to marketable uses can reduce their contributions to global warming. Credit: EPA

CCTP Goal 5
Improve Capabilities to Measure and Monitor GHG Emissions

• Anthropogenic Emissions. Measurement and monitoring technologies can enhance and provide direct and indirect emissions measurements for various types of emissions sources using data transmission and archiving, along with inventory-based reporting systems and local-scale atmospheric measurements or indicators.
• Carbon Capture, Storage, and Sequestration. Advances in measurement and monitoring technologies for geologic storage can assess the integrity of subsurface reservoirs, transportation and pipeline systems, and potential leakage from geologic storage. Measurement and monitoring systems for terrestrial sequestration are also needed to integrate carbon sequestration measurements of different components of the landscape (e.g., soils versus vegetation) across a range of spatial scales.
  
• Non-CO₂ GHGs. Monitoring the emissions of methane, nitrous oxide, black carbon aerosols, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride is important because of their high global warming potential (GWP) and, for some, their long atmospheric lifetimes. Advanced technologies can make an important contribution to direct and indirect measurement and monitoring approaches for both point and diffuse sources of these emissions.
• Integrated Measuring and Monitoring System Architecture. An effective measurement and monitoring capability is one that can collect, analyze, and integrate data across spatial and temporal scales, and at many different levels of resolution. This may require technologies such as sensors and continuous emission monitors, protocols for data gathering and analysis, development of emissions accounting methods, and coordination of related basic science and research in collaboration with the Climate Change Science Program and the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System. [6]

Figure 2-6. Integrated systems of instruments for measuring and monitoring GHG emissions and inventories can help to inform strategies for climate change technology development and associated emissions mitigating options. Credit: NASA

CCTP Goal 6
Bolster Basic Science Contributions to Technology Development

• Fundamental Research. Fundamental research provides the underlying foundation of scientific knowledge necessary for carrying out applied activities of research and problem solving. It is the systematic study of properties and natural behavior that can lead to greater knowledge and understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and observable facts, but without prior specification toward applications, processes, or products. It includes scientific study and experimentation in the physical, biological, and environmental sciences, as well as interdisciplinary areas, such as computational sciences. Fundamental research is the source of much of underlying knowledge that will enable future progress in CCTP.
• Strategic Research. Strategic research is basic research that is inspired by technical challenges in the applied research and development programs. This is research that could lead to fundamental discoveries (e.g., new properties, phenomena, or materials) or scientific understanding that could be applied to solving specific problems or technical barriers impeding progress in advancing technologies in energy supply and end use; carbon capture, storage, and sequestration; other GHGs; and monitoring and measurement.
• Exploratory Research. Innovative concepts are often too risky or multi-disciplinary for one program mission to support. Sometimes they do not fit neatly within the constructs of other mission-specific program goals. Therefore, not all of the research on innovative concepts for climate-related technology is, or should be, aligned directly to one of the existing Federal R&D mission-related programs. The climate change challenge calls for new breakthroughs in technology that could dramatically change the way energy is produced, transformed, and used in the global economy. Basic, exploratory research of innovative and novel concepts, not elsewhere covered, is one way to uncover such "breakthrough technology" and strengthen and broaden the R&D portfolio.
• Integrated Planning. Effective integration of fundamental research, strategic research, exploratory research, and applied technology development presents challenges to, and opportunities for, both the basic research and applied research communities. These challenges and opportunities can be effectively addressed through innovative and integrative planning processes that place emphasis on communication, cooperation, and collaboration among the many associated communities, and on workforce development, to meet the long-term challenges. CCTP seeks to encourage broadened application of successful models and best practices in this area.

Figure 2-7. Fundamental discoveries from basic research can help overcome technical barriers to progress in applied climate change technology research programs and illuminate entirely new pathways to innovative solutions. Courtesy: DOE, Office of Science

2.3 Core Approaches

1. Strengthen climate change technology R&D.
   
2. Strengthen basic research contributions.
   
3. Enhance opportunities for partnerships.
   
4. Increase international cooperation.
   
5. Support cutting-edge technology demonstrations.
6. Ensure a viable technology workforce of the future.
   
7. Provide supporting technology policy.

Chapter 10 outlines next steps for CCTP for each of these core approaches.

Approach 1:
Strengthen Climate Change Technology R&D

To strengthen the current state of the U.S. climate change technology R&D, the CCTP has made, and will continue to make, recommendations (Figure 2-8) to the Cabinet-level Committee on Climate Change Science and Integration (CCCSTI) to sharpen the focus of, and provide support for, climate change technology R&D in a manner consistent with the mix and level of R&D investment required by the nature of the technical challenge.

Figure 2-8. CCTP is charged with reviewing the Federal portfolio of related R&D and making recommendations to strengthen it. For recent results of a series of technical workshops that provided input to this process, see Results of a Technical Review of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program’s R&D Portfolio [PDF]. Courtesy: Energetics, Inc., 2006

Approach 2:
Strengthen Basic Research Contributions

Fundamental discoveries can reveal new properties and phenomena that can be applied to development of new energy technologies and other important systems. These can include breakthroughs in our understanding of biological functions, properties and phenomena of nano-materials and structures, computing architectures and methods, plasma science, environmental sciences, and other emerging areas of scientific discovery.

Approach 3:
Enhance Opportunities for Partnerships

Public-private partnerships can facilitate the transfer of technologies from Federal and national laboratories into commercial application. Partnering can also advise and improve the productivity of Federal research, and can promote the adoption of new technologies and best management practices. Private partners also benefit because those who are engaged in Federal R&D gain rights to intellectual property and gain access to world-class scientists, engineers, and laboratory facilities. This can help motivate further investment in the commercialization of technology.

Today, partnering is a common mode of operation in most Federal R&D programs, but it can be improved. Opportunities exist for private participation in virtually every aspect of Federal R&D. With respect to climate change technology R&D, the CCTP seeks to expand these opportunities in R&D planning, program execution, and technology demonstrations, leading ultimately to more efficient and timely commercial deployment.

Another important aspect of this approach is non-research and development partnerships. Such partnerships arise when there are mutual benefits and aligned interests between governmental and non-governmental entities in promoting progress toward CCTP strategic goals. Examples include the Climate VISION, [7] Climate Leaders, [8] ENERGY STAR®, [9] and SmartWay Transport Partnership [10] programs, all of which encourage industry to undertake activities that can lead to reduced GHG emissions.

Approach 4:
Increase International Cooperation

In related developments in July 2005, President Bush and the G-8 Leaders agreed on a far-reaching Plan of Action to speed the development and deployment of clean energy technologies to achieve the combined goals of addressing climate change, reducing harmful air pollution, and improving energy security in the United States and throughout the world. The G-8 will work globally to advance climate change policies that spur and sustain economic growth, and improve the environment.

Also in July 2005, the United States joined with Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea to accelerate clean development under a new Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. These countries together account for roughly half of the world's population, economic growth, energy use, and GHG emissions. The focus of this Partnership is on voluntary practical measures taken by these six countries in the Asia-Pacific region to create new investment opportunities, build local capacity, and remove barriers to the introduction of clean, more efficient technologies. APP countries will work in partnership to meet nationally-designed strategies for improving energy security, reducing air pollution, and addressing the long-term challenge of climate change.

CCTP seeks to expand on these and other international opportunities to stimulate international participation in the development of new and advanced climate change technologies, foster capacity building in developing countries, encourage cooperative planning and joint ventures, and enable more rapid development, transfer, and deployment of advanced climate change technology.

Approach 5:
Support Cutting-Edge Technology Demonstrations

Technology demonstrations afford unique opportunities to reduce investment risks. They clarify the parameters affecting a technology's cost and operational performance. They identify areas needing further improvement or cost reduction. Federal leadership through technology demonstrations can strongly influence decisions of private-sector investors and other non-government parties.

Because technology demonstrations can be costly, which can reduce funds available for related research, it is often advantageous for demonstrations to be cost-shared with industry to the extent practical. Demonstrations are most beneficial when the technology is ready for demonstration and when the results are shared with the public. Open and competitive processes will help to ensure fairness of opportunity among all interested parties.

Approach 6:
Ensure a Viable Technology Workforce of the Future

CCTP-funded research provides an opportunity to promote education, and experience for students in science, math, and engineering education, and to encourage talented individuals to focus their careers on this global endeavor. [11] Such efforts could be coordinated with other countries, and particularly in emerging economies of the developing world, where much of 21st century emissions are expected to occur.

Approach 7:
Provide Supporting Technology Policy

As Federal efforts to advance technology go forward, broadened participation by the private sector in these efforts is important both to the acceleration of innovation and to the adoption of technologies. Extending such participation beyond R&D partnering and demonstrations (Approaches 3 and 5 above) can be encouraged by appropriate and supporting technology policy. This is evidenced today, in part, by a number of market-based incentives already in place, by others proposed by the Administration [12], and by still others soon to be implemented in accord with the provisions of Title XIII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. [13]

Finally, Title XVI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 sets the stage for future development of policies that would facilitate new technology adoption. This Title requires that the Administration identify barriers to the commercialization and deployment of GHG-intensity-reducing technologies, and develop recommendations for the removal of these barriers to facilitate the deployment of these technologies and practices. [14] This effort will be led by the Secretary of Energy.

2.4 Prioritization Process

Through coordinated interagency planning, the CCTP priorities will be reviewed periodically in conjunction with the Federal budget process, and recommendations will be made through the Interagency Working Group (IWG) to the CCCSTI.

This CCTP Strategic Plan provides a government-wide basis for guiding the formulation of the comprehensive Federal climate change technology R&D portfolio, identifying high priority investments, gaps, and emerging opportunities, and organizing future CCTP-related research. The CCTP planning activities are informed by results of studies, inputs from many and diverse sources, technical workshops, assessments of technology potentials, analyses regarding long-term energy and emissions outlooks, and modeling by a number of groups of a range of technology scenarios over the next 100 years (see Chapter 3). Additionally, these planning activities are guided by several important portfolio planning principles and investment criteria. [15]

Portfolio Planning Principles

A balanced and diversified portfolio must hedge risks, for example, by investing in projects that will pay off under different states of the future world. For this purpose, it is helpful to understand the major sources of uncertainty, such as the level of future GHG emissions, energy prices, technology costs and performance, and other factors. CCTP's tools in this regard are partially addressed in Chapter 3, but further work in terms of portfolio analysis and expected benefits and costs will be required.

The second principle is to ensure that factors affecting market acceptance are addressed. To enable widespread deployment of advanced technologies, each technology must be integrated within a larger technical system and infrastructure, not just as a component. Market acceptance of technologies is influenced by myriad social and economic factors. The CCTP's portfolio planning process must be informed by, and benefit from, private sector and other non-Federal inputs, examine the lessons of historical analogues for technology acceptance, and apply them as a means to anticipate issues and inform R&D planning.Third and perhaps most importantly, the anticipated timing regarding the commercial readiness of the advanced technology options is an important CCTP planning consideration. Energy infrastructure has a long lifetime, and change in the capital stock occurs slowly. Once new technologies are available, their adoption takes time. Some technologies with low or near-net-zero GHG emissions may need to be available and moving into the marketplace decades before their maximum market penetration is achieved.

Portfolio Planning and Investment Criteria

Box 2-2 CCTP Working Groups Energy End Use - Led by DOE Hydrogen End Use Transportation Buildings Industry Electric Grid and Infrastructure Energy Supply - Led by DOE Hydrogen Production Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Renewable Power Nuclear Fission Power Fusion Energy Low Emissions Fossil-Based Power CO2 Sequestration - Led by USDA Carbon Capture Geologic Storage Terrestrial Sequestration Ocean Storage Products and Materials Other (Non-CO2) Gases - Led by EPA Energy & Waste - Methane Agricultural Methane and Other Gases High Global-Warming-Potential Gases Nitrous Oxide Ozone Precursors and Black Carbon Measuring and Monitoring - Led by NASA Application Areas Integrated Systems Basic Research - Led by DOE Fundamental Research Strategic Research Exploratory Research Integrative R&D Planning

Application of Criteria

The first step in the prioritization process is to establish a baseline, or inventory, of the existing portfolio of R&D activities across the participating agencies. The criteria used to compile this portfolio baseline, which closely track CCTP strategic goals, are listed in Appendix A. The resulting multi-agency baseline inventory accounted for more than $3 billion in R&D activities in Fiscal Year 2006. This inventory will be periodically updated.

The second step in the process is to use the insights gained from the scenario modeling17 and other analyses to identify the more important elements of a diversified strategy and to assess the potential contributions of each activity within the CCTP portfolio. This assessment may affirm some elements of the portfolio, challenge others, and identify gaps and promising opportunities. Once a full set of candidate investments is identified, the prioritization criteria can be applied to each proposed investment activity. This step will require continuing development of analytical tools and methods, including assessments of various technologies and their limitations.

The results of this process for Fiscal Year 2007, as evidenced in the Administration's budget request, are shown in Appendix A. Within this overall CCTP portfolio, NCCTI priorities are identified in Appendix B. Finally, key initiatives that advance multiple policy goals, while also addressing major thrusts of CCTP strategic goals, are highlighted throughout the Plan in their respective technology areas. [18] A current list of the key initiatives, with links to current programmatic information, may be found at the CCTP website. [19]

The current CCTP portfolio reflects a "snapshot" in time of an ongoing review and realignment that takes into account new and changing emphases among competing national priorities. In the years ahead, CCTP's portfolio and planning emphasis is expected to evolve as more studies and analyses are conducted, technology assessments are completed, additional gaps and opportunities are identified, and new developments and scientific knowledge emerge.

2.5 Management

Executive Direction

A CCTP Steering Group, composed of senior-level representatives from each participating Federal agency, provides a venue for agencies to raise and resolve issues regarding CCTP and its functions as a facilitating and coordinating body. It also assists the CCTP Director in accessing needed information and resources within each agency. The Steering Group assists in developing agency budget crosscuts and proposals, conveying information and actions back to the agencies, and supporting the CCTP mission. In addition, it ensures that consistent guidance and direction is given to the CCTP Working Groups, and it helps formulate recommendations and advice to the CCCSTI through the IWG.

Interagency Planning and Integration

• Serve as the principal means for interagency deliberation and development of CCTP plans and priorities, and for the formulation of guidance for supporting analyses in their respective areas.
• Provide a forum for exchange of inputs and information relevant to planning processes, including workshops and other meetings.
• Engage, cooperate with, and coordinate inputs from relevant agencies.
• Identify ongoing R&D activities and gaps, needs, and opportunities for the near and long term.
• Support relevant interaction with CCSP science studies and analyses.
• Formulate advice and recommendations to present to the IWG and CCCSTI.
• Assist in preparing periodic reports to Cabinet members and the President.

Agency Implementation

External Interactions

Program Support

2.6 Strategic Plan Outline

[1] Throughout this report the use of the term "R&D" is meant generally to include research, development, demonstration, and technology adoption programs.

[2] Additional scientific research is required to determine the level of GHG concentrations that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The CCSP's principal aim is to improve understanding of climate change and its potential impacts, which will inform CCTP.

[3] Producing feedstocks and materials can and does result in net emissions of GHGs.

[4] These calculations are made on the basis of instantaneous radiative forcing, not time-integrated radiative forcing (i.e., not accounting for different atmospheric lifetimes).

[5] Radiative forcing is a measure of the overall energy balance in the Earth's atmosphere. It is zero when all energy flows in and out of the atmosphere are in balance, or equal. If there is a change in forcing, either positive or negative, the change is usually expressed in terms of watts per square meter (W/m2), averaged over the surface of the Earth. When it is positive, there is a net "force" toward warming, even if the warming itself may be slowed or delayed by other factors, such as the heat-absorbing capacity of the oceans or the energy absorption needed for the melting of natural ice sheets.

[6] See Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System. [PDF]

[7] See Climate Vision.

[8] See Climate Leaders.

[9] See Energy Star.

[10] See SmartWay Transport Partnership.

[11] The CCTP approach is linked with the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), which aims to build the technologically skilled workforce of the future. ACI will double the Federal commitment to the most critical research programs emphasizing the physical sciences, modernize and make permanent the research and development tax credit, reform the job training system, and strengthen math and science education.

[12] Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress [PDF], March 2005.

[13] Financial incentives in Title XIII for technologies related to climate change goals are scored at more than $11 billion over 10 years.

[14] See text of EPACT Title XVI.

[15] These criteria are consistent with the Better R&D Investment Criteria outlined in The President's Management Agenda.

[16] In a market economy, commercially-orientated R&D is primarily a private sector matter. Government support of basic and applied R&D is warranted when the social benefits of such R&D outweigh the benefits that can be captured by innovating businesses and their customers, leading to inadequate investment in such R&D by the private sector.

[17] See Chapter 3 for a discussion of the scenario analyses.

[18] See also CCTP Vision and Framework for Strategy and Planning (2005).

[19] See CCTP Web site.