Onshoring Clean Energy with Giulia Siccardo, DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains

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Jun 18, 2024

Giulia Siccardo discusses onshoring clean energy manufacturing and the initiatives of the US Department of Energy to strengthen America's supply chains. Topics include history of offshoring, US-China tensions, workforce development, AI in manufacturing, and investments in critical energy sectors.

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INSIGHT

AI and Blue-Collar Jobs

AI will increase demand for blue-collar workers, especially in data center construction and operation.
The DOE recognizes the energy intensity of AI and its impact on workforce needs.

ANECDOTE

Industrial Assessment Centers

The DOE's Industrial Assessment Center program helps manufacturers improve efficiency.
It expanded to include trade schools, recognizing the need for diverse training paths.

INSIGHT

DOE Restructure and MESC's Role

The DOE restructured to bridge the gap between R&D and large-scale deployment.
MESC focuses on co-investing in manufacturing facilities, not taking equity.

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Today's conversation is all about how the US is trying to onshore manufacturing of key clean energy supply chains, things like EV, battery metals, and the like.

Giulia Siccardo is the Director of the US Department of Energy's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains or MESC.

We start out with a bit of a history lesson on why manufacturing somewhat intentionally moved offshore from the 1980s through the 20-teens and the implications of this move on the American workforce. We then talk about how and why MESC was formed and the initiatives and programs that MESC is undertaking to swing manufacturing back within America's borders.

To give you a bit of the detail before we start the conversation, MESC was established as a new office in the DOE in 2022 with the aim of strengthening and scaling America's clean energy supply chains through investments in manufacturing capacity, workforce development, and data analysis of America's supply chain vulnerabilities.

Giulia joined the DOE after many years with McKinsey, including having led McKinsey's green growth service line and having co-created Frontier, the advanced market commitment to buy over a billion dollars of carbon removal.

In this episode, we cover:

[2:55] History of offshoring manufacturing
[6:08] U.S.-China tensions in clean energy manufacturing
[9:57] Energy supply chain and workforce intersection
[15:14] AI as a blue-collar workforce generator
[17:33] Evolution of the manufacturing workforce and training
[22:08] Overview of DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC)
[29:42] MESC's non-dilutive equity efforts
[35:03] Critical minerals and materials for energy transition
[37:18] MESC's global collaboration portfolio
[42:04] MESC's 48C tax credit program
[47:05] Considerations for companies approaching MESC during an election year
[48:47] Giulia's background at Frontier
[54:04] Data analysis on U.S. supply chain vulnerabilities
[58:00] MESC's plans to publicly share data and insights

Episode recorded on May 31, 2024 (Published on June 17, 2024)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant