The US is determined to commit to cleaner energy – as reflected in a new report entitled Road Map to Renewal from the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
As part of the report, the Jobs Council outlines the challenges towards energy availability and security, and recommended what it called an “all-in” strategy to drive innovation and investment.
Its intention is to promote efficiency and drive innovation towards renewable energy and vehicle electrification and it believes that America must quickly diversify its portfolio to reduce reliance on foreign oil.
The report included three overriding recommendations:
- Optimise use of all US natural resources: It believes that the US, and the rest of the world, must deliver greater proportions of renewable energy. This includes allowing more access to oil, natural gas and coal opportunities on federal land; making more areas of land available for renewable energy development; and streamlining the permitting process.
- Support efficiency in electricity and transport: It wants real estate agents and auditors to include energy audits in standard practices for buying while also stating the Government should incentivise states to adopt to strict efficiency standards. It outlines the need for more support for electric and hybrid technologies in the transport sector with government research programmes supporting advancements in technologies.
- Drive energy innovation and investment: The Jobs Council outlined the enormous potential of evolving technologies, such as: renewable energy, energy storage, coal gasification, electric vehicles and smart grid and carbon capture. It believes the US now needs policies that will encourage investment in these areas and in power generation technologies, such as: solar, wind, advanced nuclear and gasification.
