How U.S. research and innovation are reshaping the global energy future

Cecilia Van Cauwenberghe discusses how U.S. research and innovation are reworking the global energy panorama, starting with feedback on energy innovation necessity

In a time of speedy technological change and global geopolitical flux, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is executing one in every of the most bold transformations in its historical past. At the intersection of science, financial coverage, and nationwide safety, the Research, Technology, and Economic Security (RTES) framework represents a daring try and futureproof the nation’s energy structure whereas guaranteeing accountable stewardship of public funds. In doing so, the DOE will not be solely refining the way it governs federal investments but additionally the way it positions America as a science and know-how chief in a aggressive global panorama.

The priorities of the DOE, the risk-based mechanisms underlying the RTES framework, and how these efforts are translating into tangible impacts, from defending mental property (IP) and strengthening provide chains to fostering energy independence and global clear energy management, are evolving. The dialog comes at a crucial time when American management in energy innovation may decide not simply financial prosperity but additionally geopolitical leverage. Stakeholders from coverage, business, and academia will want to concentrate on these adjustments, as they will achieve explicit worth from understanding how the DOE is operationalizing RTES to drive resilience, development, and sustainability concurrently.

Resilient by design: Core parts of the RTES framework

The Research, Technology, and Economic Security (RTES) memo ⁽¹⁾, formally adopted in November 2024, gives a complete lens by way of which the DOE governs danger, worth, and alternative throughout its energy and research portfolio. It displays a structured, harmonized, and nuanced strategy to balancing open innovation with nationwide safety imperatives. Let us discover it in additional element.

• Taxpayer-first danger self-discipline:
  • The framework locations robust emphasis on transparency and accountability in the administration of federal funding. One key instance is the DOE’s coverage change launched in May 2025 to cap oblique price reimbursements, with 10% for state and native governments and 15% for non-profits and for-profit establishments. These reforms are projected to save lots of taxpayers practically $935 million yearly. ⁽²⁾
• Proportional danger mitigation:
  • RTES incorporates a tiered, stage-specific system to evaluate and mitigate dangers throughout primary research, utilized growth, and full-scale deployment. By categorizing actions by know-how readiness ranges, the DOE applies proportionate danger controls to completely different funding devices, together with grants, loans, and cooperative agreements.
• Multi-dimensional danger protection:
  • From IP theft and provide chain dependencies to grid safety and international affect, RTES covers a broad array of danger dimensions. The framework empowers program officers to implement tailor-made controls throughout the award lifecycle, knowledgeable by inputs from DOE’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. ⁽³⁾
• Enabling strategic collaboration:
  • Perhaps most critically, the DOE retains a dedication to open science and worldwide collaboration. The framework acknowledges that international partnerships and expertise alternate are foundational to U.S. management in scientific discovery and innovation, as long as the dangers are assessed and managed.

Turning coverage into follow: Real-world deployments and case research

The implications of the RTES framework are already seen throughout a number of operational domains. DOE program places of work and National Labs are actively making use of their ideas to form funding selections, partnership eligibility, and know-how investments. Let us introduce the foremost parts.

• Supply chain resilience with the SCRL software:
  • The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), in partnership with the National Laboratories, developed the Supply Chain Readiness Levels (SCRL) software. ⁽⁴⁾ This analytics platform maps vulnerabilities in crucial energy provide chains, particularly dependencies on “covered nations”, and guides each federal and personal sector funding priorities. The software is getting used to handle provide danger in battery minerals, transformers, and grid elements.
• Geothermal innovation pilots:
  • In 2024, the DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office introduced over $30 million in funding for reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) demonstration tasks. ⁽⁵⁾ These pilots are testing new wellbore development and high-temperature instruments that may function baseload renewable energy, providing grid flexibility whereas lowering emissions.
• Scientific integrity and IP safety:
  • The RTES Office mandates full disclosure of international affiliations and institutional partnerships in all grant and contract proposals. This has led to the rejection or revision of a number of tasks the place IP danger or international management couldn’t be mitigated. These processes guarantee the integrity of federal investments in high-impact R&D. ⁽⁶⁾
• Post-2025 energy dominance agenda:
  • Following the return of President Trump in 2025, the DOE issued sweeping secretarial orders to speed up fossil gas allowing, develop LNG exports, and reauthorize offshore oil and fuel leases. Within 100 days, the DOE authorized extra new LNG export capability than any nation exterior the U.S. possesses, cementing the nation’s standing as the high oil and fuel producer and exporter. ⁽⁷⁾

Building a clear tech superpower: Renewable energy and financial development

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) performs a central function in advancing clear energy innovation and commercialization. The EERE has streamlined its technique round high-potential domains reminiscent of photo voltaic, wind, hydrogen, bioenergy, and sustainable mobility. Let us see how that is progressing.

• Capitalizing on a $23 trillion market:
  • With the global renewable energy market projected to exceed $23 trillion by 2030, the U.S. is positioning itself to seize market share by way of good coverage and strategic public funding. Programs like the Loan Programs Office and clear energy tax credit below the Inflation Reduction Act are enabling personal capital leverage, creating manufacturing hubs, and producing clear jobs. ⁽⁸⁾
• Job creation and financial renewal:
  • Since 2021, clear energy tasks have attracted greater than $450 billion in personal funding and created over 400,000 new jobs throughout sectors reminiscent of photo voltaic panel manufacturing, wind turbine logistics, battery storage, and electrical autos. These features have helped revitalize regional economies and help the U.S. manufacturing base. ⁽⁹⁾
• Health and family advantages:
  • Energy-efficient applied sciences are lowering family utility payments, enhancing indoor air high quality, and chopping emissions that contribute to respiratory illness. DOE evaluation means that mixed advantages from clear energy deployment may generate tens of billions of {dollars} yearly in public well being financial savings. ⁽¹⁰⁾

The highway forward: Future developments and strategic challenges

As the RTES framework matures and implementation scales, a number of developments and hurdles will outline its long- time period success. The use of analytical platforms like SCRL will likely be important in dynamically monitoring provide chain dangers. Expanding these instruments to cowl rising sectors reminiscent of hydrogen, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and uncommon earth magnets may assist preempt future dependencies.

Furthermore, navigating the twin mandate of open science and safe innovation will stay difficult. The DOE should proceed refining its analysis standards to permit for collaboration with out compromising IP integrity or nationwide competitiveness.

In phrases of scaling deployment infrastructure, the U.S. will want trillions in grid upgrades, workforce coaching, and allowing reform to accommodate the full potential of renewable energy assets. This would require bipartisan coverage help, personal sector coordination, and ongoing EERE management.

Finally, geopolitical volatility persists. As tensions with China, Russia, and different state actors persist, the DOE’s RTES playbook should stay agile, balancing proactive danger mitigation with a forward-looking innovation technique.

Final ideas: Innovation secured and scaled

The U.S. Department of Energy’s RTES framework represents a paradigm shift in how public research {dollars} are ruled. By weaving danger administration into the core of its funding and oversight processes, DOE is charting a path towards resilience with out sacrificing scientific openness. From grid safety and clear energy management to financial growth and worldwide collaboration, the stakes of energy innovation have by no means been larger.

Through the synergy of EERE’s innovation packages and RTES’s accountability buildings, the U.S. is laying the groundwork for a cleaner, safer, and extra affluent energy future. What stays now’s to scale that imaginative and prescient with objective, readability, and enduring public belief.

References

1. U.S. Department of Energy (2024). DOE Approach to RTES Risk. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/ia/research-technology-economic-security
2. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). Energy Department Aligns Award Criteria for Profit, Non-Profit Organizations, and State and Local Governments. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-aligns-award-criteria-profit-non-profit-organizations-and-state-and
3. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (DOE-IN). Retrieved from: https://www.energy.gov/intelligence/office-intelligence-and-counterintelligence
4. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). Identifying Risks in the Energy Industrial Base: Supply Chain Readiness Levels. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/Identifying_Risks_in_the_Energy_Industrial_Base-Supply_Chain_Readiness_Levels_vFinalPublication.pdf
5. U.S. Department of Energy (2024). Geothermal Funding Notice: Combined Wellbore Construction, High-Temperature Tools, and Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/funding-notice-combined-wellbore-construction-high-temperature-tools-and-reservoir
6. U.S. Department of Energy (2024). HSST Testimony RTES Final 02-15-2024. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-02/HSST%20Testimony_RTES%20Final%2002-15-2024.pdf
7. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). Secretary Wright Highlights 100 Days of Unleashing American Energy Under President Trump. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-wright-highlights-100-days-unleashing-american-energy-under-president-trump
8. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). EERE Funding Impacts Snapshot. Retrieved from: https://www.energy.gov/eere/2024-eere-funding-impacts-snapshot; https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/eere-2024-nvestment-snapshot-report.pdf
9. White House Archives (2024-25). The State of Clean Energy Jobs. Retrieved from: https://climatepower.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/April-2025-Clean-Energy-Jobs-Report.pdf
10. U.S. Department of Energy (2025). The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) highlights mission-critical investments to foster a 100% clear energy economic system. Retrieved from: https://www.energy.gov/eere/look-ahead-clean-energy-2025