The Energy Futures Initiative, which was later developed into the EFI Foundation, is a decarbonization policy and finance organization founded by President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz. Through reports, events, and U.S. Congressional testimony, the EFI Foundation lobbies politicians and regulatory officials to enact and appropriate funding for decarbonization policies worldwide. ¹

The EFI Foundation was heavily involved in crafting the $9.5 billion “clean hydrogen” initiatives in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2023 and was later awarded $9.6 million for consulting services on expanding the US hydrogen market afterward. ^{1 2}

Background

The EFI Foundation began as the Energy Futures Initiative, a non-profit organization founded in 2017 by President Obama’s U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz. Moniz founded the organization with two of his colleagues from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Melanie Kenderdine and Joe Hezir. Moniz, Hezir, and Kenderdine left the U.S. Department of Energy to start the Energy Futures Initiative at the conclusion of the Obama administration when then-President Donald Trump took office and de-prioritized federal spending on decarbonization efforts. ^{3 4 5}

The Energy Futures Initiative advocated for government and private funding of decarbonization initiatives through published reports, briefings of United States politicians and executives, and public events. The organization’s prominent members also met with foreign policymakers and climate change organizations to promote the worldwide adoption of “net zero” policies. ^{4 3}

The Energy Futures Initiative created the EFI Foundation in 2022 to become more involved in the financing of decarbonization projects. The objective of the EFI Foundation is to “fast track the move to a low carbon economy” through decarbonization initiatives such as the expansion of CO2 pipelines, “clean hydrogen”, carbon capture and storage, and weather-dependent energy. To reinforce these global financial efforts, the EFI Foundation established the Energy Futures Finance Forum in 2023. ⁴

The EFI Foundation works closely with Nuclear Threat Initiative, another nonprofit headed by Ernest Moniz. ⁴

Activities

The EFI Foundation’s primary activities include energy-related research reports, briefings of policymakers and executives, and public events with the objective of enacting decarbonization legislation and policies, as well as steering private and public funding toward their implementation. ⁴

Public Events

The EFI Foundation attends and hosts decarbonization-focused events worldwide. In 2018, EFI Foundation chief executive officer Ernest Moniz traveled to Rome to co-moderate the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development’s dialogue, “The Energy Transition and Care for Our Common Home”, a summit focused on “equitable energy transition.” Moniz also traveled to Ireland in 2018 to give lectures on decarbonization, as well as to meet with environmental policymakers from Ireland’s government and members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ⁴

The EFI Foundation also regularly participates in COP28, the annual United Nations climate change conference. At COP28 2023 in Dubai, the EFI Foundation introduced a report examining the prospects of new nuclear energy projects and industries in developing countries. Moniz also presented on carbon capture and storage programs and moderated a panel on nuclear fusion. ⁴

The EFI Foundation’s events are attended by numerous American policymakers, including U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Biden White House National Climate Advisors Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi, former National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  Legislators who have attended EFI Foundation events include U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL), U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), U.S. Representative Troy Carter (D-LA), and U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN). ⁴

Reports and Studies

The EFI Foundation claims that many of its reports have influenced federal legislation and policy. The organization claims that the Carbon Removal, Efficient Agencies, Technology Expertise Act (CREATE Act) of 2023 and the Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023 were inspired by the EFI Foundation’s 2019 report titled Clearing the Air. ⁴

In 2019, the EFI Foundation published a report titled Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation, which was commissioned by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy to advocate for funding of direct-air-capture carbon removal projects. ^{6 4}

Several California companies and business associations commissioned a report from the EFI Foundation in 2019 titled Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation: Pathways for Deep Decarbonization in California to assess how the state could meet its aggressive decarbonization goals. ⁷

In 2021, the EFI Foundation published a report in partnership with the AFL-CIO titled Building to Net-Zero: A U.S. Policy Blueprint for Gigaton Scale CO2 Transport and Storage Infrastructure, as part of a larger partnership endeavor with labor unions called the “Labor Energy.” The report advocates for a rapid expansion of carbon dioxide transportation and storage systems. ⁸

Finances

The EFI Foundation receives most of its funding through contributions and grants, which accounted for $1.4 million in 2021. The EFI Foundation lists its major funders as left-of-center climate-related organizations, including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and the Linden Trust for Conservation. ⁴

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation alone reported grants of $1.8 million to the EFI Foundation between 2017 and 2020. ⁹

Hydrogen Policy Influence

In 2023, the EFI Foundation published a report titled “The U.S. Hydrogen Demand Action Plan,” which advocated for government funding to create a market for hydrogen energy in the United States. The report’s suggestions became a reality later in the year, with $9.5 billion appropriated by the 2023 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for “clean hydrogen” initiatives, including $8 billion in funding for “clean hydrogen” regional hubs. ¹⁰

In early 2024, the EFI Foundation received a $9.6 million federal funding award for “demand-side support” of these regional hydrogen hubs. ¹¹

1. “EFI Foundation Report.” EFI Foundation, May 1, 2024. Accessed July 20, 2024. https://efifoundation.org/impact-reports/efi-foundation-report-charts-six-years-of-energy-innovation-and-thought-leadership/.
2. “Award DECD0000077.” USAspending.gov. Accessed on July 20, 2024. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_DECD0000077_8900.
3. “Oral History Interviews: Ernest Moniz.” American Institute of Physics, June 30, 2022. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/47254.
4. “EFI Foundation Report.” EFI Foundation, May 1, 2024. Accessed June 14, 2024. https://efifoundation.org/impact-reports/efi-foundation-report-charts-six-years-of-energy-innovation-and-thought-leadership/.
5. Harder, Amy. “Obama Energy Chief’s New Analysis Group Starting off with Grid Study.” Axios, June 21, 2017. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/obama-energy-chiefs-new-analysis-group-starting-off-with-grid-study-1513303119.
6. ^[A] “Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation.” Energy Futures Initiative. Accessed on June 14, 2024. https://efifoundation.org/reports/advancing-the-landscape-of-clean-energy-innovation/.
7. “Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation.” Energy Futures Initiative. Accessed on June 14, 2024. https://efifoundation.org/reports/optionality-flexibility-innovation/.
8. “Building to Net-Zero.” Energy Futures Initiative. Accessed on June 14, 2024. https://efifoundation.org/reports/building-to-net-zero/.
9. “Grants.” The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed on June 14, 2024. https://hewlett.org/grants/.
10. “EFI Foundation Report.” EFI Foundation, May 1, 2024. Accessed June 14, 2024.
    https://efifoundation.org/impact-reports/efi-foundation-report-charts-six-years-of-energy-innovation-and-
    thought-leadership/.
11. “Award DECD0000077.” USAspending.gov. Accessed on June 14, 2024. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_DECD0000077_8900.