After amassing more ballots than any other presidential candidate in history, Biden was declared President-elect just a few short months ago. But that hasn’t stopped him from using his transition period to get the ball rolling on ambitious plans for the energy sector.

Despite not yet being inaugurated into the White House, President-elect Joe Biden has recently been quoted as saying “there is no time to waste” when it comes to putting “America back in the business of leading the world on climate change".

From tweets to public speeches, Biden has made no secret of his desire to change direction when it comes to the US’s current stance on climate change, greenhouse gas production and global warming. He’s also been vocal about wanting to swiftly reverse some of the energy-based decisions made by the Trump administration once he’s in office.

With impressive climate change plans and a newly appointed energy and climate team at his side, Biden has the potential to really shake up the energy sector, not just in the US but throughout the world too. So, what can we expect from his win over the next four years?

The Biden Climate Change Plan

As part of his climate and energy plan, President-elect Biden has firmly pledged to build a more resilient and sustainable economy that works to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as per the Paris Climate Agreement deadline.

He also plans to strive for carbon-free electricity by 2035 and intends to spend $2tn over the next four years to escalate the use of clean energy throughout the US. With this substantial investment, Biden wants to focus on energy infrastructure, the auto industry, housing, agriculture and environmental justice to build a solid structure of skilled trades.

During one of his presidential campaign speeches, Biden said “When I think about climate change, the word I think of is ‘jobs.’” Creating energy and climate-based jobs has become a key aspect of his climate change plan, with engineering roles in particular set to see an increase over the next four years.

The Paris Climate Agreement

Under Biden, the US is also expected to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement to keep global temperature rises this century below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Current US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the US from the agreement three years ago, which was officially implemented by officials last November. However, Biden recently expressed his eagerness to re-join the climate change forum as soon as possible.

If Biden is able to make good on his pledge to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement, this will be the first time the world’s three biggest economic blocs are committed to a net-zero future. The EU is also aiming for a net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with China striving for a deadline of 2060, after recently announcing its first commitment to net-zero.

Together, the US, EU and China account for around 55% of all carbon emissions according to climate change experts, which makes their combined and heightened climate efforts vital for the entire planet. However, if they are to meet their deadlines, significant action and increased adoption of renewable energy is critical.

Renewable Energy

In recent years, the US has experienced a strong and steady increase in wind and solar installations in both commercial and residential settings. In 2019, the US had deployed over 2 million solar PV systems, totalling about 71,300 MW of solar capacity, and generating over 100 TWh of electricity.

According to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2020 was a record year for wind turbine installations, with 23 gigawatts (GW) of wind turbine generating capacity coming online at the end of 2020. In contrast, the previous record was 13.2 GW added in 2012.

Biden is keen to continue this growth and has promised to reform and extend tax credits for solar and wind power installations, after existing tax credits have started decreasing over the past few years. An extension to tax credits could be particularly welcomed by developers who are often unable to claim tax credits because of permit delays.

Permits for offshore wind development is another area where Biden could potentially make changes. In a recent executive order, President Trump put a 10-year ban on new energy developments in offshore North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. This ban applies to wind and oil and gas and could be something that Biden decides to reverse.

Electric Vehicles 

Aside from increasing the installation and utilisation of renewable energy, electric vehicles are also a top priority in Biden’s plans. He has ambitions to increase demand in America for electric vehicles, as well as making commitments to build over 500,000 charging stations throughout the country and acceleration in battery research and development. He is also expected to offer support to electric vehicle buyers by extending tax credits for electric vehicle purchases.

This could help to create more jobs for the energy industry, particularly in the research and development of charging electric vehicles from renewable sources.

Changes to the gas and oil industries

The oil and gas industry, both in the US and across the globe, are understandably keen to establish what an increase in the adoption of renewable energy solutions will mean for them over the course of the Biden administration.

Unlike President Trump, who sought to maximise domestic oil and gas production during his presidency, Biden has promised to ban the issuance of new drilling permits on federal lands and waters and modify royalties to account for climate costs. He has also pledged to increase the consideration of “the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change” in the federal permitting process. Experts are also predicting that he might even follow in Europe’s footsteps and implement a carbon tax.

According to research by Rystad Energy, if there is a total ban on all new leases, the industry would effectively lose 16.2 billion barrels of oil. Stricter regulations, including a ban on exploration, would remove a further 6.1 billion barrels from licensed fields, while a complete ban on all drilling would remove another 13.7 billion barrels.

This could bring its own set of hurdles and challenges for developers of oil and gas pipelines and export facilities moving forward. But is a loss of jobs one of them?

When addressing fears that Biden’s clean energy efforts could harm the economy and cause redundancies, Luca A. Zerbini, co-founder of Peak Point Partners said:

“We have to get rid of the old way of thinking that the clean economy and jobs don’t go together: they do. There are currently more than three million people in the United States employed in the clean energy economy. There is a huge opportunity to revitalise the US energy sector, boost growth economy-wide, and re-claim the mantle as the world’s clean energy leader and top exporter.”

In addition, Greenpeace US climate campaigner Ashley Thomson said: “To stave off the worst impacts of the climate crisis and reach net-zero emissions without relying on false solutions like carbon capture and storage, Biden must go further to stop the reckless expansion of fossil fuels and support workers and communities with a managed phaseout of fossil fuel production.”

President-elect Joe Biden has certainly raised the bar when it comes to making steps to tackle climate change, but there’s undoubtedly still a long road ahead. While actions like re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement and introducing renewable energy incentives are important and welcomed by many, no dramatic change can happen overnight.

Biden’s agency review team has already said that his climate efforts won’t get the green light until he has addressed the budget cuts, staff losses and elimination of climate programs made by the Trump administration over the past four years.

 Even still, Biden’s presidency has the potential to be a crucial starting off point for potentially decades worth of change in how energy is produced and transformed on a global scale. But only time will truly tell how it till impact the energy sector and those who work within it.