What Is It?
On February 14th, Biden added the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program to the Inflation Reduction Act. It is a competitive grant program primarily focused on low-income and disadvantaged communities. It will help reduce greenhouse gases, and air pollution, provide lower energy costs, and good paying jobs with different clean energy projects. The program fund of $27 billion will mobilize finances and leverage private capital to encourage more sustainable projects. The GGRF will provide these communities disproportionately affected by climate change with tools and resources to strengthen their climate resilience.
The main goals of the GGRF programs are:
(1) Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.
(2) Deliver benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities.
(3) Mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate the additional deployment of greenhouse gas and air pollution-reducing projects.
The two program grant competitions
The General and Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities Competition:
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- This competition will allocate $20 billion in funds to eligible non-profits. These non-profits will help communities transition to a net-zero economy. They will provide loans and grants to community-organizations, small businesses, workers, suppliers, and financial institutions for clean energy projects. They will also partner with green banks, credit unions, and community development financial institutions to facilitate investments in these projects.
The Zero-Emissions Technology Competition:
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- This competition fund of $7 billion will award states, tribes, municipalities, and eligible non-profits. The recipients will deploy zero-emission technologies such as; residential rooftop solar, community solar, and associated storage and upgrades in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The EPA expects to announce the program’s notice with more details and the application process in the Summer of 2023.
~By Camryn Iftiger, Intern at Seed solar, Electric and Engineering. Camryn is a 2021 graduate from UVM with a major in Environmental Studies and English.