DOE Announces Pilot Project to Calculate the Emissions Intensity of Certain Industrial Products

NEW YORK, N.Y.-The U.S. Department of Energy announced today a pilot project to measure the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of certain industrial products.

Global demand is rising for essential materials that are made with a low level of emissions. New climate-focused trade policies around the world, national green procurement efforts such as the Biden-Harris Administration's Buy Clean initiative for construction materials, international accords, industry commitments, and consumer preferences are all driving this rising demand for clean manufacturing.

As the market for clean manufacturing grows, the United States, trading partners, manufacturers, and consumers need a fair, coherent system for measuring the GHG intensity of energy-intensive industrial products. An accurate, coordinated GHG intensity measurement approach will bolster the Biden-Harris Administration's climate goals by helping to track and propel progress in cutting industrial emissions while supporting the competitiveness of clean manufacturing.

To that end, the White House Task Force on Climate, Trade, and Industrial Competitiveness seeks to work with Congress, stakeholders, and trade partners to develop GHG intensity measurement tools and approaches for select industrial products. The Department of Energy will support this work by combining data from existing sources to help build rigorous, timely, and accurate statistics on the GHG intensity of certain energy-intensive industrial products, starting with U.S. production.

"The historic Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have sparked a wave of government-enabled and private sector-led investments in clean energy, helping our manufacturers become the cleanest and most competitive in the world" said U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David M. Turk. "Together with our international partners, the U.S. will significantly reduce emissions in our industrial supply chains while supporting competitive clean manufacturing."

"For too long, people dismissed industrial emissions - a major source of climate pollution - as too hard to tackle. But the Biden-Harris Administration is changing the game, using all tools in the policy toolbox to accelerate the industrial transformation that we need to meet our climate goals and support good manufacturing jobs in hard-hit industrial communities," said U.S National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. "We're now making progress in building the data infrastructure we need to accelerate this clean manufacturing strategy, enabling us to track and propel reductions in industrial emissions and support the competitiveness of clean manufacturing as the emissions intensity of traded goods becomes increasingly important."

The Department of Energy is currently deploying the largest investment in industrial decarbonization in U.S. history, with over $20 billion in funding from federal and private cost shares. This investment is expected to avoid millions of tons of emissions annually and lead to tens of thousands of new jobs.

The White House Task Force on Climate, Trade, and Industrial Competitiveness and the Department of Energy will engage with Congress; a wide range of industry, labor, environmental, and academic stakeholders; trade partners; and others to inform the development of accurate, coordinated GHG intensity statistics.

Stakeholders will be invited to learn more at an upcoming webinar later in the year.