Center for Clean Energy Innovation
Innovation to make energy both clean and competitive must be a central goal of climate and energy policy. ITIF’s Center for Clean Energy Innovation exists to elevate this imperative in the policy debate in the United States and around the world. We conduct research, provide nonpartisan analysis, generate policy proposals, and convene members of the analytical and policymaking communities with this mission firmly in focus. (Read more about the Center.)
- Spotlight: Building the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI)—The Center was instrumental in developing the congressionally chartered nonprofit foundation that was included in the 2022 CHIPS Plus Science bill to assist DOE and advance its mission, and we are continuing to support FESI’s ramp-up.
- Spotlight: Expanding DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations—Congress authorized and funded a new DOE office in 2021 to pursue large-scale energy demonstration projects. The Center has an ongoing stream of analytical and outreach work seeking to expand that portfolio of projects and improve their management. (See past editions of our “OCED Observatory Newsletter.”)
- Spotlight: Tracking funding pathways for RD&D at the U.S. Department of Energy over time and across programs and subprograms. See the interactive data visualization.
- Make a tax-exempt donation to support the program—as The New York Times and Vox have recommended as one the most effective ways to fight climate change based on evidence-based analysis.
Featured Publications
Why Wind and Solar Need Natural Gas: A Realistic Approach to Variability

Wind and solar power will replace consistently dispatchable electricity from fossil fuels with variable and more unpredictable clean energy. Seasonal shifts and annual variations cannot be handled with batteries or other proposed storage solutions like hydrogen. Natural gas will have to bridge the gap for many decades.
Events
November 19, 2024
How Can Decarbonization Boost U.S. Industrial Competitiveness?
Watch now for expert panel discussion exploring how the United States can take advantage of opportunities to develop cleaner industries that are more globally competitive.
March 21, 2024
The Crucial Role of Early-Stage University Research in Clean Energy Innovation
Please join ITIF for an expert panel discussion about a new report examining the role of federal funding for clean energy research conducted by colleges and universities.
July 25, 2023
A Realist Climate Policy: Driving Clean Tech to Price/Performance Parity
Watch now for the release event for the important new report and panel discussion on why P3 must be the new lens governments that governments must use to decide which clean energy technologies to support and how to support them.
July 20, 2023
Reimagining Energy Permitting for the 21st Century
Watch now for the Capitol Hill briefing event featuring keynote remarks by Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Scott Peters (D-CA) followed by an expert panel discussion on ways Congress can reduce barriers to digital energy solutions, increase new energy infrastructure technologies, and modernize our entire energy infrastructure.
May 30, 2023
Further Energizing Innovation: Assessing the Federal Energy RD&D Budget for FY24 and Beyond
Watch the Center for Clean Energy Innovation’s release event covering their annual report on the federal energy RD&D budget; discussion by expert panel covering how the funding aligns with these key priorities.

Nonresident Senior Fellow
ITIF Center for Clean Energy Innovation and Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability
Read BioMore From the Center
May 29, 2025|Blogs
Climate Utopians’ Crusade Against Climate Realists
When the history is written about why the world didn’t solve climate change as it should have, much of the blame should be placed on the environmentalists who gave short shrift to the critical need for innovation—and even attacked those who called for it.
May 27, 2025|Blogs
Too Many Trees, Not Enough Forest: Notes on the Recent Nuclear Energy Executive Order
President Trump’s executive order takes aim at nuclear regulations, but without broader support for innovation, development, and scale-up, America’s nuclear ambitions will remain stuck on the launchpad.
May 22, 2025|Blogs
CFR’s “Climate Realism” Regrettably Strays Into Climate Imperialism
A recent manifesto from the Council on Foreign Relations argues emerging economies must slash their emissions—and to that end, “Every tool of the United States and allies’ arsenals, spanning diplomatic and economic coercion to military might, should be on the table.” This green imperialism is both profoundly, irredeemably immoral and unrealistic.
May 15, 2025|Blogs
Building From the Ashes: Lessons From the Hydrogen Fiasco
Hydrogen hype has crashed headfirst into economic reality—billions wasted, markets abandoned, and mobility in ruins—proving the U.S. must stop chasing fantasies and start stress-testing clean energy bets before they flop.
February 5, 2025|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
Trump Has an Opportunity to Adopt a Realistic Clean Energy Strategy
Clean energy only scales when it matches fossil fuels on price and performance—but Biden-era policy bet big on tech that never will.
November 13, 2024|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
It’s Global Warming, Not American Warming
Even if it were possible to radically slash U.S. emissions with today’s technologies, it still would do little to curb global warming because the United States accounts for just 13.5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. It’s time to recognize that the climate crisis can only be solved with innovation.
November 5, 2024|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
Solar and Wind Won’t Replace Natural Gas for Decades: They Will Depend on It.
Solar and wind are rapidly replacing coal, and many expect it will simply replace natural gas as well. But that’s a mistake: In fact, solar and wind for decades to come will depend on gas to fill variability gaps when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.