The world is experiencing an energy transition that has potential to power economic growth, while also tackling the worst impacts of climate change. “Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation” explores how the U.S. can be at the forefront of this transition by building on its strong tradition of collaboration along the entire chain of energy innovation – from basic research to deployment. Breakthrough Energy commissioned this report, authored by IHS Markit and Energy Futures Initiative, because a large part of the transition to a lower carbon future will require building supportive market and policy environments. The report evaluates the range of opportunities for public and private investment in the U.S., and offers a roadmap to bringing more reliable, low-emission energy technologies to market. What It Will Take Focus on developing and commercializing affordable, reliable, zero-emissions technologies that have the biggest impact. Nobody yet knows what the energy mix of tomorrow will look like. Investors, policymakers, and industry need to explore all possible paths.
Public and private sector investments should favor a diverse mix of technologies to decarbonize across the sectors contributing most to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: electricity, transportation, industry, agriculture, and buildings. This report identifies a shortlist of potential “breakthrough technologies” where the U.S. is already far ahead in both science and investments. These solutions have the highest potential impact on GHG emissions and also show the most promise for deployment at scale. Increase and better target public investment across all innovation stages, from fundamental research through commercial scale demonstration. Many programs in the federal government research pipeline are not optimized to the technologies that will help solve the climate crisis while driving economic growth. Instead, public investments largely center on basic R&D, while not focusing enough on the timely and successful transition of those innovations […]