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THE PRE<;ENT R&D SYSTIM 4^ 



vironmcncal problems is crucial, equally imponant is the technological re- 

 search undertaken to develop methods of avoiding or mitigating environ- 

 mental impacts. In other words, technology development seeks to offer 

 solutions to the envirofunental problems that environmental research has 

 uncovered and analyzed. 



Costs and Benefits of Technology 



Historically, more advanced technology has often had detrimental environ- 

 mental impacts; witness the widespread use of fossil fuels with the advent 

 of the industrial age, the development of synthetic materials and their toxic 

 by-products, or the soil erosion that accompanies more mechanically inten- 

 sive farming praaices. Technology development need not result in more 

 pollution, however; on the contrary, technologies today arc central to our 

 efforts to protea the environment. The most promising areas for realizing 

 the gains of environmental technology today relate to energy use and the 

 development of alternative fueb, to agricultural practices that use less harmful 

 [>csticides developed through biotechnology, and to the reduction and pre- 

 vention of pollution in industrial produaion processes. 



Industry Roib 



Private industry is a major player in environmental R&D, panicularly in 

 applied research on cnviroiunental technologies. It is estimated that private 

 industry funds more than half of all the R&D in the nation and that it con- 

 ducts another ro percent of the total through government contracts. In all, 

 private industry is responsible for more than 70 percent of all R&D in the 

 United States. ^^ And although it is difhcult to pinpoint exaaly how much 

 privately funded research is related to the environment, a recent repon by 

 the World Resources Institute on enviiotunentally critical technology sutes 

 that up to half of industry R&D budgets is directed toward cnvirormiental 

 technology R&D.-' 



For quite some time, industry's efforts in cnvirotunental R&D were 

 limited to developing technologies and processes aimed at meeting the re- 

 quirements of environmental regulations. Today, however, industry's focus 

 on ervironmenial concerns results not only from the need to meet go\'crn- 

 mental standards; an even greater incentive is the potential for seizing new- 

 business opportunities and realizing economic gains. Industry is moving 

 quickly to develop em-ironmenully sound technologies that will use energy- 

 more efiicientiy .md generate less waste, leading in turn to lower production 



