Full Title: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Could Reshape DOE’s RD&D Portfolio Over the Next 5 Years – in a Good Way
Author(s): Linh Nguyen, David M. Hart
Publisher(s): Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
Publication Date: September 22, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate in August and is slated to be voted on by the House of Representatives in late September, presents a major opportunity to accelerate clean energy and climate innovation. It would go far toward rebalancing the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) portfolio of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), so that it tackles deep decarbonization challenges that have largely been neglected in the past.
This rebalancing would be consistent with the recommendations of Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission, which the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy co-published a year ago. IIJA would do much more in this regard than is likely to be done through the regular appropriations process. Indeed, in some areas it even goes beyond Energizing America’s (EA) ambitious recommendations. (The Democrats’ budget reconciliation package, which is still in flux at the time of this writing, would contribute further to energy innovation, primarily by expanding tax incentives for low-carbon technologies, an approach that lies outside the scope of EA.)
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is consistent with Energizing America’s recommendations, providing a significant boost in funding for critical technology areas such as CDR, CCUS, and industrial decarbonization.