Closing Remarks - Carbon Clean Program

Thank you to everyone joining us this evening for this great topic.

 

• We’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time, so I won’t take much longer. I know there is a lot of interest in moving on to socializing.

 

• But before going, I would like to reiterate a couple of things.

 

• All this week, we’ve been hearing and talking about how last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine has upended energy security and climate security across the globe, perhaps for good.

 

• It’s becoming evident that a more secure energy future comes by diversifying into cleaner energy. This transition has the dual benefit of combating climate change while ensuring Americans have affordable, reliable energy today and tomorrow.

 

• Our top priority at the Department of Energy is to help make this a managed transition for everyone, including traditional energy companies.

 

• These companies are naturally positioned to help us bring down the costs of new, key technologies like decarbonizing the current fossil fuel portfolio with things like carbon management and methane mitigation technologies – and deploy them at scale.

 

• I would also add – and it’s not just a coincidence – that there is no better time than the present to invest in carbon capture and storage technologies.

 

• As you well know, Congress has put our country in a position to lead the world toward a net-zero carbon future this century by passing several pieces of landmark climate legislation.

 

• Language passed by Congress in 2020 first allowed DOE funding to expand its focus not just on traditional R&D spending but also on major federal investment in commercial-scale demonstration projects and deployment of climate-essential technologies and infrastructure.

 

• Then, the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act made the U.S. one of the best places in the world to develop industrial carbon capture projects.

 

• Roughly $12 billion of federal funds is being allocated right now for carbon management, and that number exceeds $20 billion if you add clean hydrogen investments, some of which involve carbon management.

 

• Additionally, the expansion of the 45Q tax credit supercharges the provisions in the infrastructure law in a way that leverages tens of billions of dollars in private investment in DOE-supported infrastructure.

 

• This administration set a target of making the United States a net-zero economy by midcentury.

 

• It was a very ambitious goal, and by our estimates, with the combination of all this Congressional action, we have a chance in meeting it.

 

• Our nation is on a trajectory of roughly a 40 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, only seven years from today.

 

• I promise you that the Department of Energy is working night and day – and even weekends – preparing the ground for these major investments.

 

• Last week, I met in Europe with European colleagues from government, industry and NGOs.

 

• And I can tell you that, by and large, they also view our domestic commitments as representing significant opportunities for countries in Europe and around the world.

 

• Because given the iterative nature of technological development – as seen with other low and zero-carbon technologies like wind, solar and batteries – hard-to-abate industries will likely see dramatic, rapid cost improvements mere years after the initial investments in carbon management take place – benefitting everybody.

 

• And I would be remiss if I didn’t commend the U.K. government for its tremendous work, regardless of the party in power, pushing governments around the world to do more to combat climate change.

 

• It has made a real difference in where we are today.

 

• When put together, these new conditions bode well in support of our energy and manufacturing industries, in our ability to retain and create high-wage jobs, and in our desire to provide economic and environmental benefits for communities across our nation.

 

• I’m not one much given to hyperbole, but I do believe in the comparisons some have made that this level of federal support for energy and climate is similar in size and scope to U.S. investments made in an earlier era, such as NASA’s Apollo program or Interstate Highway System.

 

• It’s a privilege to be a part of such an undertaking. I wish everyone good luck as the Department of Energy, private industry and our international partners continue to improve upon what has already been a tremendous relationship.

 

• Thank you very much and enjoy your evening.