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b'Energy Innovation: Overhaul or Tweak? Severin Borenstein, Co-director, Energy Institute, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley Richard Lester, Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center Dan Reicher, Executive Director, Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, Stanford America\\u2019s innovation engine is the envy of the world, yet it struggles to deploy new technology at the scale commensurate with its economic might. This panel of experts from three of the nation\\u2019s leading universities says that the U.S. risks falling behind if it refuses to address the technical, financial, and political barriers slowing energy innovation. Richard Lester, Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center, lays out what he calls the three waves of energy innovation: energy efficiency in this decade; the scaling of low- or de-carbonized energy supply technologies beginning in 2020 and running through about 2050; and breakthroughs we don\\u2019t even know about today, or may know about but are in the lab stage, but that can take decades to mature. Dan Reicher, Executive Director, Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, Stanford University, is especially bullish on the promise of Lester\\u2019s first wave, energy efficiency. \\u201cIt is the low-hanging fruit, and it\\u2019s also the low-hanging fruit that grows back. We don\\u2019t use it up,\\u201d he says. Reicher says that energy efficiency and other low-carbon technologies are needlessly held back because we ignore one or more critical criteria: technology, policy, and finance. And even when easy efficiency gains are there to be had, such as in new cars, says Severin Borenstein, Co-Director, Energy Institute, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, we are slow to act. \\u201cThe technologies are getting better, but gasoline, for the most part, remains cheap. When you ask people how much they need to save to drive a smaller car, it\\u2019s a lot more than most people are willing to give up,\\u201d he says. These difficulties and more \\u2013 think our broken political system \\u2013 have convinced Richard Lester that a new approach, one not dependent upon raising the price of energy, is necessary. \\u201cIt may be time for a shift in the policy debate to focus less on what is certainly the key requirement of increasing the price of energy to reflect these costs and focusing more on the other half of the equation, which is figuring out how to reduce the cost of the things that we actually want, which are low-carbon energy technologies and efficiency,\\u201d he says. Dan Reicher shares Lester\\u2019s concern about our broken politics, particularly as it is manifested in the GOP focus on the bankruptcy of Solyndra. \\u201cWe may be demanding that anything that we put money into has got to show very reliable, very quick success. And not allow for what innovation requires, which is placing bets,\\u201d he says. Severin Borenstein urges policymakers to ramp up funding for basic science research, in part because he is pessimistic that existing renewable energy technologies will be sufficient. \\u201cThe technologies that are going to solve this problem don\\u2019t exist yet,\\u201d he says, adding that \\u201cmost of the technologies that exist don\\u2019t have the potential to be cost-effective with fossil fuels.\\u201d \\u201cWe can\\u2019t take our eye off the price on carbon,\\u201d he says. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on November 3, 2011\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'