Decarbonization

DOE-funded innovations in decarbonization technology have increased the use of renewable energy, improved the resilience and safety of our power grid, made our industrial processes more efficient, and transformed our domestic manufacturing capabilities. Realizing the full benefits of such energy innovations will make our communities healthier, our country safer, and our workforce and economy stronger. To this end, DOE is working to accelerate the pace of decarbonization in key economic sectors.  

Industry accounts for roughly 30% of U.S. primary energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, primarily through manufacturing. DOE is committed to decarbonizing the nation’s industrial sector through targeted funding, workforce development, technical assistance, and expanded collaboration with academia and our private-sector partners.  

The transportation sector— which includes all modes of travel through land, air, and sea— accounts for one third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation costs are the second-largest annual household expense in our country and, for the poorest Americans, the financial burden of transportation is disproportionately high. Through a range of decarbonization initiatives, DOE is spearheading a well-planned transition to a clean transportation system that can provide equitable, affordable, and accessible options for moving people and goods. 

An additional third of all domestic greenhouse-gas emissions come from America’s buildings. DOE-led decarbonization initiatives in the buildings sector are saving people money, improving the quality of homes and businesses, reducing the size of new power grid infrastructure, and enabling fast, secure, and interactive distributed energy resources, such as on-site solar panels, battery storage, and electric-vehicle charging. 

The Energy Earthshots™ Initiative targets some of the most challenging technical obstacles to economy-wide decarbonization, including hydrogen, battery storage, industrial heating, clean fuels and products, and more. Through focused investment, these initiatives will accelerate breakthroughs in affordability and commercial viability that will rapidly expand the use of cutting-edge decarbonization technologies.  

The Industrial Demonstrations Program aims to prove out novel technologies using one or more of the following cross-cutting industrial decarbonization approaches: energy efficiency, industrial electrification, low-carbon fuels, feedstocks, energy sources including clean hydrogen, material efficiency or substitution, carbon capture utilization and storage, and others. 

The Advanced Manufacturing and Recycling Program supports small and medium-sized manufacturers in current and former coal communities that are focused on producing and recycling clean energy products and investing in decarbonization at their facilities.   

The global market for clean energy and decarbonization technologies is projected to be worth at least $23 trillion by 2030. DOE investments in decarbonization will not only improve the health and finances of ordinary Americans, but also raise our country’s standing in this rapidly expanding market. The decarbonization technologies we develop today will unlock greater prosperity for years to come.