Top 10 Bioeconomy Must-Knows in the Biden Transition

7. Energy Policy Act

Here are key elements of the new Energy Policy recently passed by Congress as part of the year-end package, as summarized from a more detailed analysis provided to members of the Advanced Biofuels Association:

Title IV – Carbon Management

Section 4002 directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct RDD&CA activities for carbon capture technologies. It also authorizes and encourages support for large-scale pilot projects. This section includes carbon capture research facilities. Includes a first-of-a-kind through third-of-a-kind commercial-scale carbon capture technology demonstration program to show substantial improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, costs, and environmental performance of carbon capture technologies for power, industrial, and other commercial applications.

Section 4003 directs the Secretary of Energy to establish an RD&D program for carbon storage, a large-scale carbon sequestration demonstration program, and an integrated storage program.

Section 4004 establishes a DOE RD&D program for carbon utilization. This section authorizes research to identify and evaluate novel uses for carbon, and includes a program to demonstrate applications of carbon utilization for a variety of sectors. Includes a national Carbon Utilization Research Center for early-stage R&D activities.

Section 4005 establishes a DOE RD&D program to improve the efficiency of various types of gas turbines used in power generation and aviation.

Section 4007 requires the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study on the benefits of blue hydrogen technology and how that technology can further enhance the deployment and adoption of carbon capture and storage.

Title V – Carbon Removal

Section 5001. Carbon removal. establishes an RD&D program to examine the methods, technologies, and strategies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a large scale. It also requires the Secretary of Energy to award prizes to pre-commercial and commercial direct air capture projects for qualified facilities that capture carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air.

Section 5002 directs the Secretary of Energy to prepare a report identifying tools the Federal Government can use to advance deployment of carbon dioxide removal projects. It also establishes a Carbon Dioxide Removal Task Force to advise the Secretary of Energy on matters pertaining to carbon dioxide removal, identify barriers to the advancement of carbon dioxide removal projects, and tools for advancing and deploying such projects.

Title VI – Industrial and Manufacturing Technologies

Section 6001 outlines the purposes of the title, which are to encourage the development and evaluation of technologies that increase the technological and economic competitiveness of U.S. industry and manufacturing and decrease the emissions of non-power industrial sectors.

Section 6003 establishes a cross-cutting RDD&CA program to further development and commercialization of economic and competitive technologies that reduce emissions from nonpower industrial sectors. The program also encourages leveraging smart manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing; increasing energy efficiency; using alternative materials and developing net-zero emissions fuels. It further focuses on reducing emissions from shipping, aviation, and long-distance transportation; using industrial carbon capture; and harnessing high-performance computing to develop technologies in these focus areas.

Section 6004 authorizes a Federal Advisory Committee composed of members from relevant federal agencies, labor groups, academia, national labs, nonprofit organizations, State government, and industry. The advisory committee is directed to work with the Secretary of Energy to develop missions and goals of the program established in Section 6003, as well as to develop a strategic plan on how to achieve those goals.

Section 6005 authorizes a program to provide technical assistance to eligible entities to promote commercial application of technologies that reduce emissions from the sectors identified in Section 6003.

Section 6006 requires the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the National Academies, to develop a national plan for smart manufacturing technology development and deployment to improve domestic manufacturing sector productivity and efficiency.

Title IX – Department of Energy Innovation

Section 9001 establishes an Office of Technology Transitions, the mission of which is to improve the commercial impact of the research investments of DOE and to focus on commercializing technologies that advance the missions of DOE, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. It requires the Secretary of Energy to appoint a Chief Commercialization Officer

Section 9002 establishes a Lab Partnering Service Pilot Program at DOE to provide services that encourage and support partnerships between the national laboratories and public and private sector entities. The Secretary of Energy is directed to support the development of metrics to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program.

Section 9003 reauthorizes the Technology Commercialization Fund (Fund) at DOE and mandates cost-share in accordance with Section 988 of EPACT05, clarifies requirements for evaluating and selecting applications for funding, and requires an annual report on the projects that the Secretary of Energy has funded each year. The section also requires a report on means to improve the administration of the Fund.

Section 9004 requires the Secretary of Energy to issue Department-wide guidance on the design, development, and implementation of prize competitions, and provide training and prize competition design support, among other activities.

Section 9005 authorizes the Secretary of Energy to carry out milestone-based demonstration projects that require specific technical and financial milestones to be met in order for a participant to receive funding from DOE, with cost-share requirements in accordance with

Section 9009 reauthorizes DOE’s RDD&CA activities within the Offices of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, Vehicle Technologies, and Bioenergy Technologies for FY 2021 through 2023.