New economic stimulus bill, new energy policy $ 35.2 billion | GLM

According to a summary document obtained by TechCrunch, the new stimulus package approved by Congress includes about $ 35.2 billion for energy policy.

“This is probably the biggest energy bill in the last decade,” said Dr. Leah Stokes, a policy analyst at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Graduate School of Environmental Sciences and Management.

Expenditure is divided into the 2020 Energy Act and the Environmental Energy Act, both of which include new funding for large-scale technology initiatives.

“The’2020 Energy Act’is a bicameral bicameral energy innovation package that recognizes more than $ 35 billion in RD & D activity across the DOE portfolio and provides an essential program for new technology in the market. “Strengthen or create,” the bill’s summary document states.

The spending package includes more than $ 4.1 billion for new technology initiatives.

The biggest benefits are solar power, new transportation technologies and energy efficiency technologies.

We have an energy bill with some climate flourishes, folks! Hopefully passed and signed into law soon. What’s in the stimulus bill?
– Energy Policy Act
– Energy for the Environment Title

Text here: https://t.co/np2rThDhXO

Now, I’ll break down key provisions in this THREAD…🧵 pic.twitter.com/BT0i5QKKkF

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) December 21, 2020

$ 1.5 billion has been allocated to new solar cell technologies, including modules, concentrating solar cell technology, new photovoltaic technologies, and efforts to expand solar cell manufacturing and recycling technologies. In addition, $ 2.6 billion will be secured for transportation technology, and energy efficiency and weather improvement programs will continue to be supported by the $ 1.7 billion reapproval of the weather improvement assistance program.

Energy grid technology is $ 1.08 billion to support short-term, long-term, seasonal and transportation energy storage technologies, and 2.36 billion to support smart utilities and energy distribution technologies. The dollar (about 244.2 billion yen) increased by 3.44 billion dollars (about 356 billion yen).

An additional $ 625 million will be devoted to new research, development and commercialization for onshore and offshore wind technology. $ 850 million has been allocated for geothermal technology development and $ 933 million for ocean energy and hydropower technology. $ 160 million has been allocated to upgrade hydropower generators and $ 180 million to upgrade existing federal infrastructure to federal energy management programs.

Decarbonization is the most technically difficult industry, and stakeholders in industries such as iron, steel, aluminum, cement and chemicals, as well as shipping and aviation aiming for decarbonization, to promote reliable funding and innovation. , Has secured 500 million dollars (about 51.7 billion yen) for transportation-related companies such as long-distance transportation.

According to the report’s summary, the 2020 Energy Act will now make these significant investments to “reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, bring high-wage jobs to the United States, and bring these technologies to the next few years. It will also be possible to export to overseas growth markets. ”

Given that next-generation technologies that are already widely commercially supported are areas that are being boosted, even more money is needed to support the commercialization of technologies that have not yet been proven to be practical on a commercial scale. Funds are needed.

It includes carbon capture and storage and storage technologies, which are expected to provide $ 6.2 billion in support for expansion in the industrial and energy sectors. The federal parliament has also approved a $ 447 million R & D program for a large-scale commercial carbon dioxide removal project, a facility that recovers at least 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. A $ 100 million research grant will be provided to the competition for direct air recovery in Japan.

Nuclear technology is also at its peak, thanks to the $ 6.6 billion in funding for the modernization of existing nuclear power plants and the development of advanced nuclear reactors. By digging up investment in basic and applied research, the emerging melting technology industry can add an additional $ 4.7 billion to the available funding.

These spending also includes funding to not rule out advanced technology. With a budget of $ 2.9 billion, ARPA-E is a government energy research institute with a structure similar to the DARPA program that has supported the development of technologies related to the Internet. It also follows NASA’s strategy of commercializing many technologies and has set up the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) to promote partnerships with national laboratories, a milestone base widely and effectively used by the Air Force and the Department of Defense. Has adopted the project.

The new energy bill stipulates a directive to the Home Office to achieve 25 gigawatts of public power generation from solar, wind and geothermal power by 2025.

“In my understanding, they’re looking at what the federal government has done with solar and wind power and seeing how it can be used for other technologies,” Stokes said.

For her, the rest of the stimulus package is just as important from a climate perspective. The goal is to gradually reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are a major cause of global warming and climate change, by 2035. Global warming can be reduced by 0.5 ° C by gradually reducing the use of these chemicals in refrigeration and other applications worldwide. This is a big deal.

Mr Stokes argued that some tax credit periods, which have a relatively short extension, and that there are no tax credits for electric vehicles. “EV tax credits are an essential consumer benefit for adoption. We should have well balanced EVs with internal combustion engine vehicles,” Stokes said.

While everything incorporated into this part of the stimulus package is good news for climate activists, Stokes points out that concerns about global climate change should not be optimistic.

“This package does not completely solve the climate crisis,” Stokes continues. “Next year, the Republican Party will take the lead and the new chairman may not be that generous. It’s important to celebrate and praise the achievements here, but we need to be aware of what’s missing. There are many. ”