Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a new report on 24th August 2010, ‘The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy through Innovation,’ which finds that the Recovery Act’s US$ 100 billion investment in innovation is not only transforming the economy and creating new jobs, but helping accelerate significant advances in science and technology that cut costs for consumers, save lives and help keep America competitive in the 21st century economy.
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‘From the beginning, we have been a nation of discovery and innovation, and today we continue in that tradition as Recovery Act investments pave the way for game changing breakthroughs in transportation, energy and medical research,’ said Vice President Biden. ‘We’re planting the seeds of innovation, but private companies and the nation’s top researchers are helping them grow, launching entire new industries, transforming our economy and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process.’
‘Thanks to investments made possible by the Recovery Act, we are unleashing the American innovation machine to change the way we use and produce energy in this country,’ said Secretary Chu. ‘Just as importantly, these breakthroughs are helping create tens of thousands of new jobs, allowing the US to continue as a leader in the global economy and helping to provide a better future for generations to come.’
Four breakthroughs
According to this new analysis, the US is now on track to achieve four major innovation breakthroughs thanks to Recovery Act investments:
Cutting the cost of solar power by half by 2015, putting it on par with the cost of retail electricity from the grid.
Cutting the cost of batteries for electric vehicles by 70% between 2009 and 2015, putting the lifetime cost of an electric vehicle on par with that of its non-electric counterpart.
Doubling US renewable energy generation capacity and US renewable manufacturing capacity by 2012, a breakthrough that would not be possible without the Recovery Act.
Bringing the cost of a personal human genome map to under US$ 1000 in five years, allowing researchers to sequence 50 human genomes for the same cost as sequencing just one today.
The full Recovery Act Report can be viewed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/Recovery_Act_Innovation.pdf
US Department of Energy