Fact of the Week: Public Energy RD&D Budgets for IEA Members Increased 5% to $23.6 Billion in 2021

Source: International Energy Agency, Energy Technology RD&D Budgets Data Explorer (accessed November 10, 2022).

Commentary: The combined budgets for public energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) for International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries increased to $23.6 billion in 2021. This is 5 percent higher than the 2020 figure in real terms. The cumulative budget has increased in real terms each year since 2016 after falling every year between 2012 and 2016. Budget increases are driven mostly by the energy efficiency and nuclear technology groups, which saw their RD&D budgets increase by approximately $2.1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, between 2016 and 2021. However, the technology group that saw the largest relative increase is hydrogen and fuel cells, for which the RD&D budget grew by 160 percent (from approximately $500 million to $1.3 billion).