Carl Godfrey
Should Clean-Energy Research Be Publicly Funded?
- February 17, 2026
- CBR - Clark Center Panels
The European Union is working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, relative to 1990 levels. By 2050, it aims to have net-zero emissions. In pursuit of these goals, the EU and its member states have invested heavily in clean-energy research and development—to the tune of roughly €9 billion of public money in 2023, according to the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan Progress Report 2025. But the report also indicates that private-sector investment in this area was roughly three times that amount. So are subsidies for clean-energy R&D justified? Chicago Booth’s Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets put that question to its US and European panels of economic experts.
US Aaron Edlin, University of California at Berkeley
“A subsidy is now and certain. An investor cannot be certain of future carbon taxes.”
Response: Strongly agree
Euro Jan Pieter Krahnen, Goethe University Frankfurt
“Subsidies may be justified if new technologies (R&D and early stage) face entry barriers in established markets.”
Response: Agree
Euro Charles Wyplosz, Geneva Graduate Institute
“If the carbon price is right, it should provide resources for low-carbon technology. With subsidies, there is a risk of inefficient investment.”
Response: Uncertain
Euro Emmanuelle Auriol, Toulouse School of Economics
“Fossil energies are limited and are the main engine of global warming. Energy is the engine of growth. So we need a big push in R&D to find clean substitutes. Everybody will benefit from it.”
Response: Strongly agree
US Anil K Kashyap, Chicago Booth
“Getting the non-OECD countries to address climate change is essential.”
Response: Agree
US Robert Shimer, University of Chicago
“The relevant question is the cost of R&D subsidies versus an alternative policy, e.g., subsidies to the use of green energy in developing countries.”
Response: Uncertain
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