The Global Apollo Programme was a historic call for a major global

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

research programme A research program (British English: research programme) is a professional network of scientists conducting basic research. The term was used by philosopher of science Imre Lakatos to blend and revise the normative model of science offered by Kar ...

to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025.

Inspiration and aims

Launched in June 2015, the project - named for the

Apollo Program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

, which brought together thousands of scientists and engineers to put mankind on the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

- calls for

developed nations A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for evalu ...

to commit to spending 0.02% of their

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

, for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to solve the challenge. This equates to $150 billion over a decade, roughly the same cost committed to the Apollo Program in 2015 money. Some developed nations, including the UK, already meet the GDP percentage target spend, but many do not and there is little international coordination to maximise the results. It has been modelled on the more recent

International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) is a set of documents that was coordinated and organized by Semiconductor Research Corporation and produced by a group of experts in the semiconductor industry. These experts were rep ...

, an international research collaborative that is credited with greatly and swiftly improving the quality and economics of semiconductor manufacture.

Key areas of focus

Renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

- in particular that derived from

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

and

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

sources *

Energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

Smart grid The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is main ...

s *

hydrogen vehicle A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen to move. Hydrogen vehicles include some road vehicles, rail vehicles, space rockets, forklifts, ships and aircraft. Motive power is generated by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen to me ...

Key people

Launch report authors

The initiative is spearheaded by the

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Professor Sir David King, former

Government Chief Scientific Adviser The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. They are also the head of the Government Office for Science. Many indiv ...

HM Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

. Amongst the Apollo group are

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

s Professor Lord Stern (author of The Stern Review) and Lord O'Donnell (former

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

), businessmen Lord Turner and Lord Browne (former Chief Executive of BP), cosmologist and astrophysicist Professor Lord Rees (former

President of the Royal Society The president of the Royal Society (PRS), also known as the Royal Society of London, is the elected Head of the Royal Society who presides over meetings of the society's council. After an informal meeting (a lecture) by Christopher Wren at Gres ...

) and labour economist Lord Layard.

Endorsers

The following were signatories on an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

published to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

newspaper, alongside the launch report authors, in September 2015. * Sir David Attenborough
video endorsement
* Professor Brian Cox,

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

* Paul Polman, CEO of

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Ed Davey Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, leader of the Liberal Democrat party since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State ...

, Former UK

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change The secretary of state for energy and climate change was a British Government cabinet position from 2008 to 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his Cabi ...

* Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute * Mark Kenber, CEO of

The Climate Group Climate Group is a nonprofit organisation with a mission to drive climate action, fast, and achieve a world of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with greater prosperity for all. The organisation builds influential networks of business and gove ...

* Ben Goldsmith Founder, Menhaden Capital *

Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist who served as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environmen ...

, British MP and London mayoral candidate * Professor Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute * Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director, Grantham Institute; vice-president of

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...

* Peter Bakker, President of the

World Business Council for Sustainable Development The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a CEO-led organization of over 225 international companies. The council is also connected to 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations. Its origins da ...

* Professor John Shepherd,

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

* Dr Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO,

Council on Energy, Environment and Water The Council on Energy, Environment and Water, commonly known as CEEW, is a Not-For profit Think Tank and policy institution based in New Delhi, India. CEEW was formed to provide independent research-based insights to policymakers for building ...

Professor

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs ( ; born November 5, 1954) is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University, where he was formerly director of The Earth Institute. He worked on the topics of sustainable develop ...

, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the

Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

has separately publicly endorsed the programme. Professor Sir David King has publicly stated that

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

is "keen" on the programme.

Reaction

{{Quote frame, Foremost, governments need to fund research and development for low-carbon energy technologies at Apollo-program levels of commitment... The required funding of this ultimate public good is too great a risk with too little a reward for private companies. But it is easily fundable by governments., Professor Steven Pinker,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

{{cite news, last1=Pinker, first1=Steven, last2=Goldstein, first2=Joshua S., title=Inconvenient truths for the environmental movement, url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/11/23/inconvenient-truths-for-environmental-movement/esDloe97894keW16Ywa9MP/story.html, accessdate=25 November 2015, work=

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

, issue=23 November 2015, archive-date=24 November 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124231131/http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/11/23/inconvenient-truths-for-environmental-movement/esDloe97894keW16Ywa9MP/story.html, url-status=live

Key dates

* The programme was discussed at the Energy Ministers run-up meeting to the 41st G7 summit. * It featured in the Leader's Declaration of the 41st G7 summit itself.

References

Research projects Government research