Treasury expands tax credit for clean energy projects
The Treasury Department proposed tax guidance Friday that could provide credits of up to 70 percent for certain energy storage and other clean power projects.
The Section 48 investment tax credit — modified and expanded in the Inflation Reduction Act last year — aims to defray construction costs for new energy infrastructure. Traditionally, the credit has been used mostly by U.S. solar developers.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”
Related Knowledge Center: Energy storage
A key to the adoption of renewable energy is the development of economical ways to store energy, in the form of batteries or other technologies.