{"id":29628,"date":"2023-02-07T09:23:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T09:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=29628"},"modified":"2023-03-02T13:15:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T13:15:05","slug":"accelerating-energy-and-climate-innovation-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/accelerating-energy-and-climate-innovation-in-the-us\/29628\/","title":{"rendered":"Accelerating energy and climate innovation in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

CJ Evans, Founder and Managing Director of American Diversified Enterprises<\/a> (ADE), shares insights on funding programs to fuel the energy and climate revolution.<\/h2>\n

Governments with serious mandates and innovators with bold new solutions need to be able to connect. That is what American Diversified Enterprises (ADE) does every day. It assists top international innovators in connecting with forward-thinking public servants, commissioners, policymakers, and key stakeholders with the means, vision, and wherewithal to advance technological innovations that will save the planet \u2013 in renewable energy, renewable chemicals, bio-based and hydro-based products, clean fuels, agriculture, sustainable materials, and numerous other sectors.<\/p>\n

As global sources of funding open up to meet the world\u2019s urgent environmental challenges, ADE successfully enables businesses to secure major, meaningful project support for the earliest stages of development up through implementation, deployment, and operation at commercial scale. Its core mission is to aid innovation and accelerate solutions for stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Growing consensus on the urgency of the planet\u2019s collective challenge<\/h3>\n

Years of observed severe climate change, concerted global research, and increasing public awareness have led to a near-universal \u2013 albeit belated \u2013 consensus that the degradation of our environment must be addressed urgently, aggressively, and at scale for humanity and other species to survive and thrive. The threat is global, and interconnected, making it imperative that governments and innovators share best practices across borders and collaborate when feasible.<\/p>\n

Interests have aligned in 2023, as detailed below.<\/p>\n

Public sentiment is galvanised<\/strong><\/p>\n

Majorities in all 40 nations polled in 2016 by the Pew Research Center agree that climate change is a serious problem; moreover, 54% stated that urgent solutions are needed.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Support and awareness has increased<\/strong><\/p>\n

Support and awareness has increased as the impacts of climate change have become more intense and affected more places and people. A 2021 study by Yale University2<\/sup> shows that pluralities of people in the US \u2013 from 57-77%, from all areas of the US and all political persuasions \u2013 are worried about global warming: (65%), believe it will harm plants and animals (71%), will affect people worldwide (68%) and in the US (64%), and harm future generations (71%). A plurality also support research into renewable energy sources (77%), regulating CO2<\/sub>\u00a0as a pollutant (72%), setting strict limits on existing coal-fired plants (66%), requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon tax (66%), teaching about climate change in schools (77%), and providing tax rebates for energy efficient vehicles and solar panels (77%).<\/p>\n

Private initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n

Private initiative is mounting multiple initiatives to solve the myriad of problems posed by climate change by replacing or fortifying the outmoded global system of energy usage, storage, and distribution to ensure better long-term health and prosperity.<\/p>\n

Public funding<\/strong><\/p>\n

Public funding is increasing to meet the most pressing needs. For example, the US recently rose to this challenge by increasing \u2013 by 4.5 times \u2013 the funds that previously had been allocated to encourage the robust US technology innovation marketplace to address climate change.<\/p>\n

A recent bill passed by the US Congress, the Inflation Reduction Act,3<\/sup> increases the existing funding of $80bn per year, to support and encourage US federal agencies to pursue renewable and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis, by another $350bn.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the loan authorities of programs that facilitate the commercialisation of innovative, first-of-their-kind technologies were increased by another $70bn, on top of the $40bn of existing loan authority. In total, these commitments now amount to $540bn, available for promoting innovative technologies and addressing climate change.<\/p>\n

Funding green solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Significant funding is being directed by US banks to finance sustainability, renewable energy, and innovative solutions to the climate crisis. For example, Citibank, the sixth largest bank in the world measured by total assets, has committed $1tr for these types of projects (announced by Citibank\u2019s Managing Director of Sustainability at the Alternative Fuels & Chemicals Coalition\u2019s 2022 Global Biobased Economy Conference in Washington, DC, in November 2022).<\/p>\n

ADE is leading the way on these initiatives by working directly with federal and state governments and regulatory bodies to shape groundbreaking legislation. ADE\u2019s decades of experience and global perspective provide energy agencies and their leaders and policymakers with the tools to ensure responsible law making and program operation that leads to the most effective solutions to the world\u2019s climate problems.<\/p>\n

Landscape for clean energy innovation<\/h3>\n

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) encourages innovators to utilise and develop new, significantly improved technologies that reduce climate impacts; help avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases; and are superior to existing technologies in use. The two examples listed below illustrate the growing commitment of US resources to address climate change through energy innovation.<\/p>\n

Title 17 Loan Guarantee Program<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DOE\u2019s Title 17 Loan Guarantee Program, to which ADE\u2019s Managing Director submitted an application in response to the first Title 17 solicitation in 2008, is one example. ADE\u2019s application was one of just 16 accepted for financing, out of the more than 350 applications submitted in total.<\/p>\n

ADE lobbied in 2017-2020 to maintain the Title 17\u2019s funding and loan authority when the program was under threat of elimination. ADE also drafted legislation to improve the Title 17 program\u2019s operation, adopted at the end of 2020 and incorporated into the federal government\u2019s 2021 consolidated appropriation act, which sets forth the annual funding for all federal government agencies and their programs. The result of these efforts has been to greatly streamline the Title 17 program\u2019s ability to put innovative projects on the ground and into implementation.<\/p>\n

The Title 17 program was designed to serve as a \u201cbridge over the valley of death\u201d for projects that, due to their newness and innovations, represent significant risk to investors and lenders, since many such projects have not been successfully scaled up and placed in commercial operation and, thus, have a high potential for failure.<\/p>\n

This makes these projects exceedingly difficult to finance. The Title 17 program provides a critical \u2018bridge to bankability\u2019 so innovative, high-impact energy technologies can obtain the financing to build their first commercial facilities and prove their viability to attract private sector investment and financing for future expansion and deployment.<\/p>\n

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Department of Energy\u2019s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is a \u2018moonshot\u2019 agency. It provides funding to advance high-potential, high-impact, never-tried-before energy technologies that are still in the early stages of development and, therefore, are too risky and unproven for private sector investment. ARPA-E awardees are unique because they are developing entirely new ways to generate, store, and use energy that benefit environmental wellbeing, national security, and economic prosperity.<\/p>\n

How American Diversified Enterprises\u2019 expertise and capacity make a difference<\/h3>\n

American Diversified Enterprises has extensive expertise in project development and design, application preparation, project financing, and project execution. It provides a significant advantage to firms that seek to win contracts, secure grants and loans, qualify for bond financing, and attract investors to deliver large-scale solutions.<\/p>\n

Over the past 20 years, ADE has enabled more than 250 client firms \u2013 from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies \u2013 to secure more than $5bn in project support to develop, mobilise, construct, implement, and operate projects that advance government objectives, create jobs, bring economic development to local communities, mitigate climate change, and place stewardship of natural resources foremost.<\/p>\n

American Diversified Enterprises\u2019 focus is on assisting companies to develop and deploy new, game-changing technologies and expand the market penetration of renewable energy, renewable chemical, biobased product, and alternative fuel technologies.<\/p>\n

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ADE\u2019s subject matter experts and partner services with technology leaders offer the following services:<\/p>\n