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Pathway
Pathway

National Innovation Pathway

President Biden’s executive order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad sets out the climate strategy for the United States and underscores that “climate considerations shall be an essential element of United States foreign policy and national security. The United States will work with other countries and partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to put the world on a sustainable climate pathway.” The executive order also calls on DOE to advance international collaboration on innovation and deployment of clean energy.

In addition, DOE plans to work closely with the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State, as well as other departments and agencies, to develop its Innovation Pathway, consistent with the U.S.’s new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement. The United States plans to look at priority technology areas and to make clear public announcements about where it intends to focus technologies and policies. These announcements are planned to be made as the new Administration moves forward. To date, DOE has announced more than $1.5 billion in funding for clean energy R&D projects.

To date, the United States has announced that its goal to move to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and plans to do so through numerous innovation pathways, including:

  • Announcing a new offshore wind goal of 30 Gigawatts by 2030 and a goal to cut the cost of solar energy by 60% within the next 10 years
  • Announcing numerous investments and initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings
  • Investing $35 million to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of biofuel production
  • Investing over $100 million in communities impacted by changes in the energy economy
  • Investing $17.3 million in students and faculty research opportunities and to foster workforce diversity
  • Investing $12 million to advance geothermal energy technologies
  • Investing $100 million in transformative clean energy solutions
  • Making available $8.25 billion in loans to enhance electrical transmission
  • Introducing six new international initiatives to speed up clean energy innovation and deployment
  • Investing $162 million to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions among cars, trucks, and off-road vehicles