[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 15, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S851-S853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. DeWine):
  S. 167. A bill to direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a Next 
Generation Lighting Initiative; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague, Senator 
DeWine, to introduce legislation which will help maintain our 
leadership in a field Thomas Edison invented over 100 years ago, 
lighting.
  The title of this bill is the Next Generation Lighting Initiative, or 
NGLI. The NGLI's purpose is to develop a partnership between our 
government, industry, and the research community, to enable the U.S. 
lighting to illuminate our surroundings using energy efficient 
semiconductors. This bill is structured along the lines of the well 
known government--industry semiconductor partnership called SEMATECH 
which the Congress authorized in the 1988 National Defense 
Authorization Act.
  Lighting currently accounts for roughly 19 percent of the energy use 
in the United States. Lighting is a $40 billion dollar global industry. 
The United States occupies roughly one-third of that market. Today's 
lighting market primarily consists of two technologies. The first 
technology is incandescent

[[Page S852]]

lighting, that's the one Thomas Edison invented over 100 years ago. 
Incandescent lighting relies on running a current through a wire to 
heat it up and illuminate your surroundings, but only 5 percent of the 
electricity in a conventional bulb is converted into visible light. The 
second type of lighting is fluorescent lights, which use a combination 
of chemical vapors, mainly mercury, to discharge light when current is 
passed through it. Fluorescent lights are six times more efficient than 
a light bulb.
  In 1998, electricity from lighting cost about 47 billion dollars, 
which accounted for about 100 million tons of carbon equivalent from 
fossil energy plants.
  Today, this paradign is changing, because some scientists recently 
made a leap ahead in lighting research. Technology leaps displace, very 
quickly, traditional markets. We know the stories all too well, the 
horse courier, the telegraph, the telephone and finally the Internet.
  That's why we are proposing this legislation, because some advances 
have been made in the areas of solid state lighting that require a 
national investment that no one lighting industry can match. This 
emerging technology has the capability to disrupt our existing lighting 
markets. So quickly in fact, that other countries have formed consortia 
between their governments, industries, laboratories and universities. 
Solid state lighting is being taken very seriously around the world.
  Let me describe solid state lighting. The best examples are red light 
emitting diodes, or ``LED's'', found in digital clocks. LED's produce 
only one color but they do not burn up a wire like a bulb and are seven 
times more efficient.
  Until recently LED's were limited to yellow or red. That all changed 
in 1995. In 1995, some Japanese researchers developed a blue LED. Soon 
other bright colors started to emerge, such as green. That is when 
things started to change. Because, white light is a combination of red, 
blue, the recent Japanese breakthrough, and green or yellow. The recent 
Japanese breakthrough of that simple blue LED has now made it possible 
to produce white light from LED's ten times more efficient than a light 
bulb.
  If it's successful, white light LED's will revolutionize lighting 
technology and will disrupt the existing industries. It's imperative 
that we move quickly on these advances. We need a consortia between our 
government, industry, research labs and academia to develop the 
necessary pre-competitive research to maintain our leadership role in 
this field.
  I'd like to mention one other technology that will change lighting. 
That technology is found in your cell phone and on your computer 
screen. It's called conductive polymers. Three Nobel Prizes were just 
awarded for this technology. Conductive polymers offer the possibility 
of covering large surface areas and replacing fluorescent lamps. These 
materials will not only provide white light, but can display text or 
programmed color pictures. These technologies can be Internet 
controlled to adjust building lighting across the country.

  Let me describe the Next Generation Lighting Initiative Act. If 
enacted, it will allow our country to capture these revolutionary 
mergers between lighting and information. It will supply the necessary 
pre-competitive R&D which no one industry alone can provide, and, which 
we as holders of the public trust of basic research owe a duty to 
further. It will keep the United States in a leadership role for 
commercial lighting and promote energy efficiency that is ten times 
that of incandescent lights and twice that of fluorescent lights. We 
need to enact this legislation now.
  The Next Generation Lighting Initiative authorizes the Department of 
Energy to grant up to $460 million over ten years to a consortium of 
the United States lighting industry and research institutions. The 
goals of the Act are to have a 25 percent penetration of solid state 
lighting into the commercial markets by the 2013. The Next Generation's 
consortium will perform the basic and manufacturing research. The 
lighting industry will take this R&D and develop the necessary 
technologies to make it commercially viable.
  This is precompetitive research. It is research that no one industry 
by itself can perform and which we have a duty to promote together with 
industry. It has implications for our country's energy policy far 
broader than economic competitiveness. The potential reduction in 
energy consumption makes it a national initiative. Once the pre-
competitive research is transitioned to industry then it should be 
terminated, we think that will take about 10 years.
  If this initiative is successful, then by 2025, it can reduce our 
energy consumption by roughly 17 billion watts of power or eliminate 
the need for 17 large electricity generating plants. That's as much as 
17 million homes consume in a single day. That's more homes than in 
California, Oregon, and Washington combined.
  Almost all of the language of this bill was worked out in detail with 
the House during the 107th Congress as part of the energy bill 
conference. We feel it is not only bipartisan but bicameral, and we 
hope that in this Congress it becomes law.
  So let me conclude, by saying that the Next Generation Lighting 
Initiative will carry that U.S. lighting industry into the twenty-first 
century. It capitalizes on technologies that have the potential to 
displace our lighting industry. This Initiative will reduce our 
nation's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The research 
necessary to advance this technology requires a national investment 
that must be in partnership with industry.
  I encourage my colleagues to review this bill, offer their comments, 
and join us in its support. I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record as follows:

                                 S. 167

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. NEXT GENERATION LIGHTING INITIATIVE.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Consortium.--The term ``consortium'' means the 
     consortium selected by the Secretary under subsection (d)(1).
       (2) Initiative.--The term ``Initiative'' means the Next 
     Generation Lighting Initiative carried out under subsection 
     (b).
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Energy.
       (b) General Authority.--The Secretary shall carry out a 
     program, to be known as the ``Next Generation Lighting 
     Initiative'', to support research, development, 
     demonstration, and commercial application activities related 
     to advanced solid-state lighting technologies based on white 
     light emitting diodes.
       (c) Objectives.--The objectives of the Initiative shall 
     be--
       (1) to develop, by 2012, advanced solid-state lighting 
     technologies based on white light emitting diodes that, 
     compared to incandescent and fluorescent lighting 
     technologies, are--
       (A) longer lasting;
       (B) more energy-efficient; and
       (C) cost-competitive;
       (2) to develop an inorganic white light emitting diode that 
     has an efficiency of 160 lumens per watt and a 10-year 
     lifetime; and
       (3) to develop an organic white light emitting diode with 
     an efficiency of 100 lumens per watt with a 5-year lifetime 
     that--
       (A) illuminates over a full color spectrum;
       (B) covers large areas over flexible surfaces; and
       (C) does not contain harmful pollutants (such as mercury) 
     that are typical of fluorescent lamps.
       (d) Fundamental Research.--
       (1) Consortium.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
     fundamental research activities of the Initiative through a 
     private consortium (which may include private firms, trade 
     associations and institutions of higher education), which the 
     Secretary shall select through a competitive process.
       (2) Submission of information.--Each proposed consortium 
     shall submit to the Secretary such information as the 
     Secretary may require, including a program plan agreed to by 
     all participants of the consortium.
       (3) Joint venture.--The consortium shall be structured as a 
     joint venture among the participants of the consortium.
       (4) Governing council.--The Secretary shall serve on the 
     governing council of the consortium.
       (5) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under 
     paragraph (6), an applicant shall be broadly representative 
     of United States solid-state lighting research, development, 
     and manufacturing expertise.
       (6) Grants.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants for 
     fundamental research to the consortium, which the consortium 
     may disburse to researchers, including researchers that are 
     not participants in the consortium.
       (B) Submission.--To receive a grant, the consortium shall 
     submit to the Secretary a

[[Page S853]]

     description of the proposed research and a list of the 
     persons that will receive funding.
       (C) Cost-sharing.--Grants shall be matched by the 
     consortium in accordance with subsection (h).
       (7) National laboratories.--National Laboratories may 
     participate in the research under this section and receive 
     funds from the consortium.
       (8) Intellectual property.--Participants in the consortium 
     and the Federal Government shall have royalty-free 
     nonexclusive rights to use intellectual property derived from 
     research funded under this subsection.
       (e) Development, Demonstration, and Commercial 
     Application.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
     development, demonstration, and commercial application 
     activities of the Initiative through awards to private firms, 
     trade associations, and institutions of higher education.
       (2) Preference.--In selecting awardees, the Secretary shall 
     give preference to members of the consortium.
       (f) Plans and Assessments.--
       (1) In general.--The consortium shall formulate an annual 
     operating plan which shall include research priorities, 
     technical milestones, and plans for technology transfer, and 
     which shall be subject to approval by the Secretary.
       (2) Review.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into an 
     arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct 
     periodic reviews of the Initiative.
       (B) Duties.--The Academy shall review the research 
     priorities, technical milestones, and plans for technology 
     transfer established under paragraph (1) and evaluate the 
     progress toward achieving them.
       (C) Consideration of results.--The Secretary shall consider 
     the results of the reviews in evaluating the plans submitted 
     under paragraph (1).
       (g) Audit.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall retain an independent, 
     commercial auditor to perform an audit of the consortium to 
     determine the extent to which the funds authorized by this 
     section have been expended in a manner consistent with this 
     section.
       (2) Report.--
       (A) To the secretary.--The auditor shall annually submit to 
     the Secretary a report describing the results of the audit 
     under paragraph (1).
       (B) To congress.--The Secretary shall transmit to Congress 
     a copy of each report submitted under subparagraph (A), 
     including a plan to remedy any deficiencies noted in the 
     report.
       (h) Cost Sharing.--
       (1) Research and development.--
       (A) In general.--For research and development programs 
     carried out under this section, the Secretary shall require a 
     commitment from non-Federal sources of at least 20 percent of 
     the cost of the project.
       (B) Reduction or waiver.--The Secretary may reduce or waive 
     the non-Federal requirement under this subsection if the 
     Secretary determines that the research and development is of 
     a basic or fundamental nature.
       (2) Demonstration and commercial application.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary shall require at least 50 
     percent of the costs directly and specifically related to any 
     demonstration or commercial application project under this 
     section to be provided from non-Federal sources.
       (B) Reduction.--The Secretary may reduce the non-Federal 
     requirement under this subsection if the Secretary determines 
     that the reduction is necessary and appropriate considering 
     the technological risks involved in the project and is 
     necessary to meet the objectives of this title.
       (3) Calculation of amount.--In calculating the amount of 
     the non-Federal commitment under paragraph (1) or (2), the 
     Secretary may include personnel, services, equipment, and 
     other resources.
       (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section--
       (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
       (2) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2013.
       (j) Termination of Initiative.--The Secretary shall 
     terminate the Initiative not later than September 30, 2013.
                                 ______