Hoyu Chong

Compared to grey hydrogen, clean hydrogen is significantly more costly—about three times for blue hydrogen and six times for green hydrogen. Demand-side support can help accelerate development and reach Nth-of-a-kind stages, supporting DOE’s mission by providing a predictable commercial market for clean hydrogen.

The president’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year serves as a blueprint for how the government plans to deliver on the promise to bolster U.S. investments in science and technology in a bid to outcompete China in key industries.

Transitioning heavy-duty trucks to net-zero emissions is an important yet formidable challenge. Expanded RD&D support is needed to meet emission goals at price-performance parity.

Congress should make good on its promise to appropriate authorizations in the Chips and Science Act to further energize innovation in clean energy and other critical technologies.

The FY 2024 budget request, if met, could maintain bipartisan momentum for clean energy innovation. Congress should support that innovation to foster domestic clean energy industries that can compete globally, minimize foreign dependencies, and address climate change.

Demand-side support measures such as direct procurement, advanced market commitments, and guaranteed price floors can advance DOE’s mission by providing a predictable commercial market for clean energy technologies.

The FY 2023 omnibus bill increased the Energy Department’s budget by $1.4 billion. Along with provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the future of clean energy innovation should be bright. But a closer look reveals notable funding gaps.

The building sector is being left out in the cold when it comes to clean energy innovation. It’s long past time for Congress and the administration to rectify this by taking bold action to accelerate energy innovation for buildings.

In September, ministers will gather in Pittsburgh to consider how their governments should respond to the energy and climate innovation imperative. Building on Glasgow, the meeting should strive to fill critical gaps in areas such as capital-intensive demonstration projects and innovation-friendly trade in carbon-intensive goods.

The building sector is not on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Federal RD&D investments have been disproportionately low, while national strategies that address the key hurdles of decarbonizing the building sector have been lacking.

Although vehicle-integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) and vehicle-added photovoltaic (VAPV) strategies could in principle complement policies that impact the transportation sector and have climate benefits, the likelihood of breakthroughs that significantly improve upon current VIPV and VAPV products is low.

In the Annual Energy Outlook 2022, the Energy Information Administration forecasts that if current policy and technology trends continue, U.S. energy-related emissions would decline only 2 percent from 2021 to 2050. The message is clear: To leap from a 2 percent decline to a 100 percent decline in GHG emissions, the United States must continue to encourage and support continued innovation in energy.

Watch the Center for Clean Energy Innovation’s release event covering their annual report on the federal energy RD&D budget; discussion by expert panel covering how the funding aligns with these key priorities.

Hoyu Chong speaks with EDF on the launch of their new visualization tool and panel discussion focused on navigating federal investments for climate solutions.

Watch thought leaders from ITIF, IIT-Delhi School of Public Policy, and the Climate Policy Lab at The Fletcher School, Tufts University share their visions for a successful COP for innovation, building off the September 12th forum published in Nature Energy.

ITIF hosted a panel to release the Center for Clean Energy Innovation’s annual report on the federal energy RD&D budget and an expert panel discussion of key priorities.

ITIF's Center for Clean Energy Innovation hosted a discussion of the health of the global clean energy innovation system, why continuous investments in the system matter, and what a healthy system should look like.