Next Generation Environmental Technologies: Benefits and Barriers

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND ® is a registered trademark. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of its research sponsors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from RAND. Preface Next Generation Environmental Technologies (NGETs) focus on the redesign, at the molecular level, of manufacturing processes and products so as to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials. The potential for such technologies suggests that they may play an important role in a new approach to environmental protection. NGETs thus raise important policy questions, including the range of benefits such technologies have already provided and may in the future provide and the types of actions commensurate with these benefits that policymakers might take to encourage their development and adoption. This report examines 25 case studies of such Next Generation Environmental Technologies to begin to address such questions. For readers unfamiliar with NGETs, this study will provide a survey of their promise and weaknesses. For researchers and practitioners creating new NGETs, this study aims to provide a broader context for their efforts. For policymakers, this study aims to provide the raw materials for a systematic assessment of the range of potential benefits of NGETs and the portfolio of policies needed to move them forward. mission is to help improve public policy by conducting objective, independent research and analysis on policy issues that involve science and technology. To this end, the Institute 1. Supports the Office of Science and Technology Policy and other Executive Branch agencies, offices, and councils 2. Helps science and technology decisionmakers understand the likely consequences of their decisions and choose among alternative policies 3. Helps improve understanding in both the public and private sectors of the ways in which science and technology can better serve national objectives. In carrying out its mission, the Institute consults broadly with representatives from private industry, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit institutions.