Introductions
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Clean Fuels & Products Shot™ to significantly reduce the negative impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from carbon-based fuels and products that are critical to our way of life. The seventh of DOE’s Energy Earthshots™, the Clean Fuels & Products Shot aims to decarbonize the fuel and chemical industry through alternative sources of carbon by advancing cost-effective technologies that produce at least 85% less greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
Decarbonizing the Fuel and Chemical Industry
Many of our day-to-day activities and products rely on fuels and materials sourced from carbon, traditionally from fossil fuels. The fuels that power large vehicles like planes, boats, and trains, and the inputs that are used today to create products like carpets and rubber, require a carbon foundation. To meet the United States’ goal of a net-zero carbon economy by 2050, we will need to find methods for making carbon-based products that minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
The Clean Fuels & Products Shot aims to dramatically decarbonize the transportation and chemical industries through a staged research, development, and demonstration strategy that will accelerate the development of the technologies necessary to establish the United States as a world leader in clean fuel and clean carbon-based chemical production, create high-quality jobs, and provide enhanced energy security through strong domestic supply chains. The Shot is also driving progress toward the goals of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge and supporting the national effort to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Achieving the goals of the Clean Fuels & Products Shot would position the United States to meet significant percentages of projected 2050 fuel demand with sustainable carbon resources, including:
- 100% of aviation fuel
- 50% maritime fuel
- 50% rail fuel
- 50% off-road fuel
- 50% carbon-based chemicals.
Earthshots Initiative
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.
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