Cleantech investment is ready to flow… but the pipes of progress are clogged. 2022 was a watershed year for federal climate change legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) directed $369 billion toward clean energy technology, infrastructure, and climate mitigation. The energy-related parts of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act add another $75 billion. This feels like progress. Notes: Over the next decade, spending on climate will more than triple historic levels. Source. This level of federal investment has the potential to be transformative. Widely cited modeling exercises (see here, here, and here) project that IRA incentives will induce *major* increases in technology deployment. For example, the REPEAT project estimates over 590 installed GW of utility solar and over 470 GW of onshore wind by 2030 (compared to 97 GW and 136 GW today) and incredible accelerations in the adoption of EVs, heat pumps, etc.
What the Energy Transition Needs Now is a Good Plumber