Bradford Seminar - "The Inflation Reduction Act and the Path to a Net-Zero America"

The combined impact of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 marks the first time that the full financial might of the federal government is aligned behind the transition to clean energy. The wide ranging set of policies in the two acts includes tax credits, grants, rebates, loans, and other financial incentives to make clean energy and other climate solutions cheap, funding for demonstration and improvement of nascent technologies, and industrial policies that will build U.S. supply chains to manufacture components for solar PV and wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. But are the new laws sufficient to put the United States on the path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions? What will the impact of these laws be on the U.S. energy system, greenhouse gas emissions, and clean energy adoption? The REPEAT Project (repeatproject.org), led by Prof. Jesse D. Jenkins (Princeton University Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy & the Environment), has used a suite of macro-energy system modeling tools to rapidly analyze the impacts of these new laws and provide a detailed look at the United States’ evolving policy environment. Drawing on REPEAT Project findings, this presentation will summarize the major components of the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Law, their impacts, and current progress on the road to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.