Journal of Science Policy & Governance
Volume 24, Issue 01 | April 30, 2024

Policy Memo:  ​Jump-Starting Global Grid Decarbonization: US-Dutch Partnerships Energize Utility-Scale Battery Deployment

Paloma R. Tuttle (1,2), Sarah Lindbergh (1,2), Alan J. Moss (1,2)
  1. National Science Policy Network, San Francisco, CA, USA
  2. Netherlands Innovation Network, Netherlands Consulate General, San Francisco, CA, USA

​Corresponding author: [email protected] ​​
Keywords: renewables; energy storage; power grid; decarbonization; science diplomacy
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG240116

Executive Summary

The United States and the Netherlands heavily invest in renewable energy as part of their individual commitments to net zero emissions by 2050. Weather-dependent fluctuations in wind and solar power, along with limitations in legacy infrastructure and systems, restrict the on-demand use of these renewables and pose substantial bottlenecks to the energy transition. Integration of dynamic energy storage technologies into modernized electrical systems will provide crucial solutions to overcome these challenges. Herein, we profile stakeholder perspectives on the energy transition and present our recommendations for US-Dutch collaboration on utility-scale electrochemical battery solutions to update power grids with robust, accessible, and sustainable carbon-free flexible energy capacity.

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Background header image courtesy of Clean Air Taskforce
Paloma R. Tuttle is a recent Chemistry PhD graduate from Harvard University and has advised on multidisciplinary projects with the  Netherlands Innovation Network and the Derek Bok Center. Paloma’s approach to science communication and policy integrates scientific literacy and contextual communication to meaningfully convey complex scientific information in practical forms. She is an active member of the National Science Policy Network and is pursuing a career in science policy.

Sarah Lindbergh is a postdoc in the Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California Berkeley with a research focus on climate adaptation governance of complex infrastructure. She has experience in disaster risk reduction in Brazil, France, Spain, and the U.S, and is a member of the Science-Policy Group at Berkeley and the National Science Policy Network where she advocates for climate risk management.

Alan J. Moss is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow working with the US Department of Agriculture on Open Science policy. Formerly, he was a Science Diplomacy Fellow with the National Science Policy Network and the Netherlands Innovation Network. Before this, he was a Legislative Policy Fellow with MOST Policy Initiative in Missouri. He holds a PhD in Biology from Saint Louis University and spent his summers doing field research in the Himalayas where he investigated the drivers of bumblebee diversity. He served as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Sierra Leone during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank the National Science Policy Network along with the invaluable support of Patricia Gruver for coordinating this project through the Science Diplomacy Fellowship program. We are grateful for the Netherlands Innovation Network team’s willingness to give the authors first hand experience in science diplomacy, especially Karin Louzada and Tyrone Pater for their kind mentorship and guidance in organizing interviews and compiling this study. Thank you to Emma McMullan for summarizing the clean energy funds made available in the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) and for her help collecting interview data. Finally, we thank all of the interviewees and webinar speakers who generously lent us their time and expertise which made this study possible.​

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