Congress hails $35bn for clean energy R&D in US spending bill

Deal also boosts funding for many national agencies, including the National Science Foundation

Leading lawmakers from both of the main political parties in the United States have expressed satisfaction with a major piece of energy legislation they managed to get approved, which authorises the Department of Energy to spend $35 billion on clean energy R&D.

The energy provisions were contained in a giant legislative package combining government spending bills for 2021 and new coronavirus relief measures that was approved in late December. Senior Congressional figures hailed the package as the first major update to US energy policy in over a decade.