demonstration and deployment,
supply chains,
innovative procurement,
industrial policy
Alice Wu is a Policy Manager at the Federation of American Scientists. She works on clean energy and supply chains, with a focus on critical minerals, industrial strategy, demand-side policy levers, and DOE government capacity. Prior to FAS, she worked on energy research and international projects. Alice received her S.M. in Electrical Engineering from MIT and her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University.
As Congress begins the FY27 appropriations process this month, congress members should turn their eyes towards rebuilding DOE’s programs and strengthening U.S. energy innovation and reindustrialization.
Politically motivated award cancellations and the delayed distribution of obligated funds have broken the hard-earned trust of the private sector, state and local governments, and community organizations.
Over the course of 2025, the second Trump administration has overseen a major loss in staff at DOE, but these changes will not deliver the energy and innovation impacts that this administration, or any administration, wants.
The new alignment signals a clear shift in priorities: offices dedicated to clean energy and energy efficiency have been renamed, consolidated, or eliminated, while new divisions elevate hydrocarbons, fusion, and a combined Office of AI & Quantum.
Could the largest U.S. public-private critical minerals deal of the decade be a model for the future?
The current planned capacity for lithium processing in the U.S. is on track to meet demand from domestic battery factories. However, current planned capacity for nickel, cobalt, and graphite still fall well short of future demand.
The Administration has continued to push for further clean energy investments, but faces a difficult fiscal environment in Congress – which has meant shortfalls for many priority areas like funding for CHIPS and Science.
Science funding agencies are biased against risk, making transformative research difficult to fund. Forecast-based approaches to grantmaking could improve funding outcomes for high-risk, high-reward research.
Cement and concrete production is one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. Using its Other Transactions Authority, DOE could design a demand-support program involving double-sided auctions, contracts for difference, or price and volume guarantees.
Here’s how the Department of Energy can utilize Other Transaction Authority to invest in and kickstart a new era of abundant and firm geothermal energy.
Common frameworks for evaluating proposals leave this utility function implicit, often evaluating aspects of risk, uncertainty, and potential value independently and qualitatively.
Successful commercialization efforts have now grown across the country, but what do they have in common, and why do they work? Our experts weigh in.