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“Deep in the confines of the hulking, brutalist headquarters of the US Department of Energy, down one of its long, starkly lit corridors, sits a small, unheralded office that is poised to play a pivotal role in America\u2019s shift away from fossil fuels and help the world stave off disastrous global heating.\n<\/p>\nThe department\u2019s loan programs office (LPO) was \u201cessentially dormant\u201d under Donald Trump, according to its head, Jigar Shah, but has now come roaring back with a huge warchest to bankroll emerging clean energy projects and technology, writes Oliver Milman.\n<\/p>
\nLast year\u2019s vast Inflation Reduction Act grew the previously moribund office\u2019s loan authority to $140bn, while adding a new program worth another $250bn in loan guarantees to retool projects that help cut planet-heating emissions. Which means that Shah, a debonair former clean energy entrepreneur and podcast host who matches his suits with pristine Stan Smiths, oversees resources comparable to the GDP of Norway: all to help turbocharge solar, wind, batteries and a host of other climate technologies in the US.”<\/blockquote>\n<\/p>