1.2: Environmental Impacts of Energy

Improve the quality of the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts to land, water, and air from energy production and use.

Other Information:

The consumption of fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation accounts for three-fourths of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, and is a major contributor of air, water, and land pollution. The Department is funding research in a robust portfolio of technology options that will help reduce the environmental footprint resulting from the supply, distribution, and use of energy. In electricity generation, the Department is partnering with industry, academia, State and local governments, and other countries in advancing a variety of carbon-free electricity options. These partnerships range from wind farms and solar power systems to central station near-zero atmospheric emissions fossil fuel power plants that capture and store carbon. Also included in the partnerships are advanced nuclear facilities that rely upon advanced fuel-cycles technologies that will help to address nuclear waste disposal issues. The Department is also helping to mitigate the environmental impacts of electricity generation by reducing the need for new power plants through advances in energy efficiency technologies and peak load reduction technologies and strategies (these advances are addressed in Strategic Goals #1.3 and #1.4). In transportation, the Department is investing in options that are less carbon intensive than petroleum, such as biofuels, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Another option is advancing technologies that enable vehicles to travel further on a gallon of fuel, thereby simultaneously reducing petroleum use and carbon emissions.

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