The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) engages in the Asia-Pacific region through regional partnerships, as well as bilaterally with individual countries. In addition to the deployment-focused partnerships described below, EERE Technology Offices engage in bilateral research partnerships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, China, India, Japan, and Korea. China research collaboration includes the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center.  India research collaboration includes the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Research.

Regional Partnerships

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The APEC Energy Working Group was launched in 1990 to increase energy trade and investment and ensure that energy contributes to the economic, social, and environmental enhancement of the Asia-Pacific region while mitigating the environmental effects of energy supply and use.  The U.S. Department of Energy plays a strong leadership role in the Energy Working Group. The Energy Working Group supports projects that advance clean energy technologies and policies in the region. EERE proposed and is managing an APEC-funded project to develop a strategy for large-scale implementation of biogas capture from palm oil mill effluent and reuse for renewable electricity generation. 

Bilateral Partnerships

China

Energy Efficiency
Announced by the President in 2009, the U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Action Plan was initiated to address energy and environmental challenges in buildings, industry, communities, and consumer products.

Renewable Energy
Announced by the President in 2009, the U.S.-China Renewable Energy Partnership was launched by DOE and China’s National Energy Agency in 2009 to increase the deployment of renewable energy technologies, improve energy security, and expand business opportunities in the United States and China.

Biofuels
DOE and U.S. Department of Agriculture collaborate with China’s National Energy Administration on development of advanced biofuels and bioproducts, including feedstock development and logistics, conversion technologies, and sustainability analysis.  

Sub-National Collaboration
DOE leads several initiatives with Chinese counterparts that work at the local government level to share solutions on sustainable energy planning, and to promote trade and investment. 

India

The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue
The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue aims to enhance energy security and promotes increased trade and investment in the energy sector. It is structured around a Steering Committee and five working groups: New Technologies & Renewable Energy; Power & Energy Efficiency; Oil & Gas; Coal; and Civil Nuclear.  EERE participates in the first three working groups.

Renewable Energy
India is primed for rapid solar expansion, with its abundance of sunshine, growing population, and its government’s vow to provide reliable electricity to all. These factors have led the U.S. Department of Commerce to rank India as the second most attractive market for U.S. solar exports. To underpin further development of that market, we supported NREL to collaborate with India’s National Institute of Solar Energy to enhance the quality and accuracy of India’s solar resource maps and data. Solar radiation data is used in a number of applications, including financial models to estimate potential revenue of solar projects.

Energy Efficiency
India is the third largest energy user in the world behind the United States and China, and its need for energy continues to climb.  EERE International supported projects are helping to increase productivity of India’s energy supply and strengthen the market for energy efficient products.  EERE and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are helping accelerate implementation of India's Energy Conservation Buildings Code at the state and local level.  In addition, EERE, India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Confederation of Indian Industry have teamed up to improve the energy efficiency of Indian data centers.

Sustainable Transportation
India's transportation energy use is growing at the fastest rate in the world.  Heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) – including buses and trucks – are responsible for significant share of diesel consumed by road transportation in India and are one of the major sources of urban air pollutant emissions.  EERE International is funding LBNL to examine the benefits and costs of fuel-saving technologies for new heavy-duty vehicles in India and to explore how these technologies could impact petroleum consumption and emissions over the next three decades. 

Indonesia

The U.S.- Indonesia Energy Dialogue is a mechanism to enhance our mutual energy security, promote increased trade and investment, and accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies.  EERE’s project on Sustainable Energy for Remote Indonesian Grids (SERIG) launched in 2013 to support Indonesia’s efforts to develop clean energy and increase access to electricity in remote locations across the country. The SERIG project is blazing the trail for U.S. exports of clean energy technologies and services to Indonesia, a country with the world’s fourth largest population, a rapidly expanding economy, and aggressive goals for renewable energy and electricity access.  The SERIG project has developed strategies to accelerate deployment of renewable electricity in remote communities across Indonesia’s 6,000 inhabited islands and is partnering with the Government of Indonesia to implement these strategies.  SERIG has also conducted technical and economic analyses of renewable energy technologies for displacing diesel generation on three remote pilot grids.  The project team is working with U.S. developers, engineering companies, and technology providers to attract development of the pilot sites to demonstrate American technologies.