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AN ASSESSMENT OF ARPA-E

Committee on Evaluation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
Policy and Global Affairs

Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

A Report of

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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by Contract No. DE-PI0000010, Order Number DE-DT0008147,
with the U.S. Department of Energy, and Grant No. G-2014-13809 from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this
publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided
support for the project.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/24778

Additional copies of this publication are available for sale from the National Academies Press,
500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; [phone] or [phone];
http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2017 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. An
Assessment of ARPA-E. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:
https://doi.org/10.17226/24778.

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The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by
President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related
to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to
research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation.
Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering.
Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president.

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in
1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and
health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and
health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president.

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other
activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National
Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to
knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at
www.national-academies.org.

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Reports document the evidence-based consensus of an authoring committee of experts. Reports
typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by
the committee and committee deliberations. Reports are peer reviewed and are approved by the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Proceedings chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other
convening event. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the
participants and have not been endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit
nationalacademies.org/whatwedo.

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COMMITTEE ON
EVALUATION OF THE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY –
ENERGY (ARPA-E)

PRADEEP K. KHOSLA, Chancellor, University of California, San Diego, Chair
MAXINE SAVITZ (NAE), General Manager (ret.), Honeywell, Inc., (Vice Chair for Technical
Evaluation)
PIERRE AZOULAY, International Programs Professor of Management, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
TERRY BOSTON, Director, GridLiance GP, LLC and Grid Protection Alliance
ERICA R. H. FUCHS, Professor, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
SUPRATIK GUHA, Professor, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago; and
Director, Nanoscience and Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory
MARK JONES, Executive External Strategy and Communication Fellow, The Dow Chemical
Company
ERIC LANDREE, Associate Research Department Director, Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department, and Senior Engineer, RAND Corporation
GILBERT E. METCALF, Professor of Economics, Tufts University
JOHN PLASTER, Managing Director, Global Power and Utilities Group, and Head of
Alternative Energy, Barclays Capital
LOUIS SCHICK, Founding Partner and CTO, NewWorld Capital Group
CHARLES SHANK, Senior Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor Emeritus
of Chemistry, Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Sciences, University of
California, Berkeley
STEPHANIE S. SHIPP, Deputy Director and Research Professor, Social and Decision
Analytics Laboratory (SDAL), Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech
SCOTT STERN, David Sarnoff Professor of Management, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
JOHN WALL, Vice President and CTO (ret.), Cummins, Inc.
JAY WHITACRE, Professor, Engineering and Public Policy and Materials Science and
Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (Member 5/8/2015-9/20/2016)
VALERIE WILLIAMS, Senior Program Evaluator, University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research
PEIDONG YANG, S. K. and Angela Chan Distinguished Chair Professor in Energy and
Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

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Project Staff

BOARD ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC POLICY
POLICY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS

PAUL BEATON, Study Director
GAIL COHEN, Board Director
JEFF ALSTOTT, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow
DAVID ALLEN AMMERMAN, Financial Officer
DAVID DIERKSHEIDE, Program Officer
FREDERIC LESTINA, Senior Program Assistant
ERIK SAARI, Senior Program Assistant

BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
DIVISION ON ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

K. JOHN HOLMES, Study Co-Director
LIZ EULLER, Senior Program Assistant

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BOARD ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC POLICY

For the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, this project was overseen
by the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP), a standing board
established by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of
Medicine in 1991. The mandate of the STEP Board is to advise federal, state, and local
governments and inform the public about economic and related public policies to promote the
creation, diffusion, and application of new scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the
productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. economy and foster economic prosperity for all
Americans. The STEP Board and its committees marshal research and the expertise of scholars,
industrial managers, investors, and former public officials in a wide range of policy areas that
affect the speed and direction of scientific and technological changes and their contributions to
the growth of the U.S. and global economies. Results are communicated through reports,
conferences, workshops, briefings, and electronic media subject to the procedures of the National
Academies to ensure their authoritativeness, independence, and objectivity. The members of the
STEP Board and staff are listed below:
RICHARD K. LESTER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chair
JEFF BINGAMAN, Former U.S. Senator, New Mexico
ELLEN R. DULBERGER, Dulberger Enterprises, LLC
ALAN M. GARBER (NAM), Harvard University
RALPH E. GOMORY (NAS/NAE), New York University
MICHAEL GREENSTONE, The University of Chicago
ARATI PRABHAKAR (NAE)
LUIS M. PROENZA, University of Akron
KATHRYN L. SHAW, Stanford University

Staff

GAIL COHEN, Board Director
JEFF ALSTOTT, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow
PAUL BEATON, Senior Program Officer and Study Director
DAVID DIERKSHEIDE, Program Officer
FREDERIC LESTINA, Senior Program Assistant
ERIK SAARI, Senior Program Assistant
SUJAI SHIVAKUMAR, Senior Program Officer

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BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

The Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) is a unit of the Division on
Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine. Since 1975, the Board (formerly the Energy Engineering Board [EEB]) has
conducted a diverse program of studies and related activities (workshops, symposia, etc.) to
produce authoritative, independent recommendations about the science and technology aspects
of public policy questions in energy, the environment, national security, and defense.

JARED COHON (NAE), Carnegie Mellon University, Chair
DAVID ALLEN, University of Texas, Austin
W. TERRY BOSTON (NAE), PJM Interconnection, LLC, Audubon, Pennsylvania
WILLIAM BRINKMAN (NAS), Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
EMILY A. CARTER (NAS/NAE), Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
BARBARA KATES-GARNICK, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
JOANN MILLIKEN, Independent Consultant, Alexandria, Virginia
MARGO OGE, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Environmental Protection Agency,
McLean, Virginia
JACKALYNE PFANNENSTIEL,∗ Independent Consultant, Piedmont, California
MICHAEL RAMAGE, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (retired), New York
City
DOROTHY ROBYN, Consultant, Washington, D.C.
GARY ROGERS, Roush Industries, Livonia, Michigan
KELLY SIMS-GALLAGHER, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
MARK THIEMENS (NAS), University of California, San Diego
JOHN WALL (NAE), Cummins Engine Company (retired), Belvedere, California
ROBERT WEISENMILLER, California Energy Commission, Sacramento, California

Staff

K. JOHN HOLMES, Acting Director/Scholar
JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Senior Scientist
DANA CAINES, Financial Associate
LANITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator
MARTIN OFFUTT, Senior Program Officer
JANKI PATEL, Program Assistant
BEN WENDER, Associate Program Officer

∗Deceased on April 26, 2017.
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