DOE’s Energy Earthshots supporting R&D of 8 key objectives
EcoTech Note:
In 1962, President Kennedy famously set a stretch goal for the US Space Program: to successfully land a man on the moon, and return him safely to the Earth, by the end of the decade. It unleashed a frenzy of scientific and engineering advancement.
Well, in 2021, the Biden Administration announced the Energy Earthshots™ Initiative, which sets technical and cost goals in key next-generation clean energy to be achieved by 2030 or 2035. The effort was partly based on DOE’s highly successful SunShot, which set out in 2011 to slash the cost of solar energy 75% within a decade (and did so three years early).
See the ambitious stretch goals for these 8 Energy Earthshots (where *means 2030 goal): cheap hydrogen* ($1/kg) by 2030; carbon dioxide removal* at less than $100/ton; long-duration energy storage* for 90% less than today; floating offshore wind cost down by 70%; enhanced geothermal energy below $45/mwh; decarbonized industrial heat with 85% lower GHGs; clean fuels and [chemical] products with 85% lower GHGs; and reduced home energy costs* by 20% by having retrofits decline by 50%.
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Energy Earthshots™ are the frontiers of the clean energy transition. The future is being built with fearless innovation.
The climate crisis calls for a different kind of moonshot. Energy Earthshots™ will accelerate breakthroughs of more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions within the decade. They will drive the major innovation breakthroughs that we know we must achieve to solve the climate crisis, reach our 2050 net-zero carbon goals, and create the jobs of the new clean energy economy. The Energy Earthshots target the remaining solution points of the most challenging technical problems across our energy economy.
Carbon Negative Shot™
Remove CO2 from the atmosphere and durably store it at meaningful scales for less than $100/net metric ton of CO2-equivalent within a decade.
Clean Fuels & Products Shot™
Decarbonize the fuel and chemical industry through alternative sources of carbon to advance cost-effective technologies.
Enhanced Geothermal Shot™
Reduce the cost of enhanced geothermal systems by 90%, to $45 per megawatt hour by 2035 to unlock Earth’s nearly inexhaustible heat resources to provide reliable, clean power for Americans and expand opportunities for a robust domestic geothermal industry.
Floating Offshore Wind Shot™
Drive down costs to $45 per megawatt hour by 2035 to spur U.S. leadership in floating offshore wind technology, accelerate decarbonization, and deliver benefits for coastal communities.
Hydrogen Shot™
Accelerate innovation and spur demand of clean hydrogen by reducing the cost by 80%, to $1 per 1 kilogram of clean hydrogen within 1 decade.
Industrial Heat Shot™
Develop cost-competitive industrial heat decarbonization technologies with at least 85% lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
Long Duration Storage Shot™
Achieve affordable grid storage for clean power—anytime, anywhere—by reducing the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% for systems that deliver 10+ hours of duration within the decade.
Affordable Home Energy Shot™
Reduce the cost of energy-efficient retrofits in affordable homes by 50% and decrease residents’ energy costs by at least 20% within a decade.