The U.S. Department of Energy launched a $500 million program aimed at transforming mines into clean energy hubs, to be funded by the Biden administration's bipartisan infrastructure law.

"Developing clean energy on mine lands is an opportunity for fossil fuel communities, which have powered our nation for a generation, to receive an economic boost and play a leadership role in our clean energy transition," Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said in a June 29 statement. "The investments in the president's bipartisan infrastructure law will help America's mining workforce apply their skills to grow and deploy cheaper, cleaner energy across the country."

Projects funded by the program are expected to bring economic benefits and lower carbon emissions and should demonstrate at least one of the following clean energy technologies: solar; microgrids; geothermal; direct air capture; fossil-fueled generation with carbon capture, utilization and sequestration; energy storage; and advanced nuclear.

The program will also advance the Justice40 initiative, which targets to deliver 40% of the benefits of clean energy and climate investments to disadvantaged communities, according to the DOE.

Earlier this month, environmental advocates called on President Joe Biden to nominate a new administrator for the federal agency responsible for cleaning up retired coal mines and restoring the land to beneficial use.

Biden authorized $11.29 billion in funds for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's abandoned mine lands program when he signed the infrastructure law in late 2021. The funds are to be distributed over 15 years.

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