TÜBİTAK to intensify R&D, innovation in energy

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided to supervise the work of the National Energy, R&D and Innovation Strategy Study Group comprising Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTÜ) and the State Waterworks Authority (DSİ), research concerning efficient energy in Turkey gained momentum. The group has already started its activities and held its fourth meeting in March of this year.

TÜBİTAK emphases the fact that interdisciplinary R&D and innovation studies in the energy field will enable Turkey to better realize its renewable energy potential as well as the production and other common facilities to use energy more efficiently. Moreover, it will contribute an added value to Turkey's ambitions of becoming an energy corridor.

Turkey imports 75 percent of its energy needs. Energy demand, equivalent to 99 million tons of oil last year, is estimated to reach up to 218 million tons of oil by 2020. Moreover, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data, with its population of 76 million, Turkey forms 6 percent of the total OECD population, but when it comes to primary energy supply, its contribution is only 2 percent of the total OECD supply.

In Turkey, the energy used per capita per $1,000 is 0.28 equivalent tons of oil while the OECD average is 0.18 equivalent tons of oil. While the average energy self-sufficiency rate among OECD countries is around 71 percent, the same rate in Turkey is only 27.5 percent. Such indicators place the contributions of TÜBİTAK to R&D and innovation at the epicenter of Turkey’s energy policies. TÜBİTAK’s briefing note states that speeding up the R&D and innovation studies in field of energy, which is closely related to the future of Turkey’s national security and international competitiveness, is crucial. In Turkey, the note continues, the main obstacle in catching up with the developed countries’ capacity of efficient energy usage is the low level of “absorption capacity.” Such capacity consists of the necessary sources to be able to create and manage the technological advancements, know-how accumulation, skills and support institutions.

According to TÜBİTAK, in Turkey the efficient functioning of the R&D and innovation system depends on several dynamics. The encouragement of experimentation, learning and entrepreneurship in the private sector, the generation of knowledge, spreading the knowledge, developing R&D and innovation policies, market creation for the new products and services and ability to mobilize human capital, infrastructure and financial resources are the main dynamics.

Turkey needs to lower its level of greenhouse emissions by 2012 in order to meet the criteria set by the Kyoto Protocol. TÜBİTAK confirms that the R&D and innovation studies will encourage the private sector in Turkey to develop zero or very little greenhouse emission technologies. The studies will also play a key role in achieving the country’s first centennial goal, which aims to increase the renewable energy share in Turkey to 30 percent. Under the said 2023 vision, TÜBİTAK set categories of prioritized technological activities in the field of energy. Energy supply and demand issues, technological progress and system development are the main categories. Parallel with the goal of sustainable development, TÜBİTAK aims to help develop energy technologies with which Turkey will gain competence.

Developing such energy policies involves a variety of energy types for Turkey. For example, Turkey has rich lignite resources. According to TÜBİTAK, developing technologies supported by R&D and innovation studies will result in more efficient ways to produce energy. To develop the required technology to be able to produce energy from renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric and solar power, is also another goal. Developing hydrogen-burning technologies and deriving hydrogen from sustainable sources is important. Another area where TÜBİTAK’s contribution in R&D and innovation come into play is energy storage and power system capacities. According to TÜBİTAK’s briefing note, this capacity is crucial in the sense that it will allow for the storage of energy produced from renewable energy sources.

Finally, the TÜBİTAK 2023 vision makes reference to the long-debated nuclear energy. TÜBİTAK sees nuclear energy as a viable alternative to reducing greenhouse emissions and believes it will provide clean and safe energy with the proper technological developments in this field.