South America Research & Development

Research and development (R&D) represents a core economic and industry activity and area of investment pursued by private companies, trade and industry associations, non-profit organizations (NGOs), private universities, public universities, research centers and public sector laboratories. R&D is a primary driver of innovation in product design, performance, efficiency improvements and the development of new technologies for private industry. The broad number of participants speaks to the significance of R&D in improving the quality of life and economic performance of businesses, but also countries and other communities, and is generally responsible for advancing the knowledge of mankind.

As the motive force of human development and economies, energy – in this context defined by technologies, products and resources providing electrical, thermal and mechanical energy – is a leading subject in global R&D across all forms of participants. In the past three decades, energy R&D has represented a major area of public and private spending as various governments and industries have sought to harness, generate or otherwise convert various forms of energy into useful forms. Major subjects in contemporary energy research and development include electricity generation from renewable energy (RE) resources, energy-efficient (EE) designs and systems management methods, energy storage, smart grids, renewable and biofuels production, exploitation of alternative fossil fuels (bitumen, oil sands, oil shale, shale gas, coal bed methane [CBD]), hydrogen energy technologies, greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction technologies like clean coal and pollution control products. Major global contributors to energy R&D include the US DOE, European Commission, United Nations (UN), General Electric (GE), Siemens, and Google.