The programmes, part of the US$27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act last year, are the latest move by his administration to support projects that reduce planet-warming emissions.

The US$14 billion National Clean Investment Fund will provide grants to two or three national clean financial institutions, enabling them to partner with the private sector to provide financing to tens of thousands of clean technology projects nationwide, the White House said.

“Students, small business owners and community leaders with innovative ideas to reduce our emissions and accelerate our clean energy transition will now see their projects become reality, all while creating … a clean energy economy that works for all,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a release.

A US$6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator competition will provide grants to support up to seven nonprofit groups that will deliver funding and technical assistance to build the clean financing capacity of local lenders working in lower-income and disadvantaged communities.

The US$27 billion fund was proposed as a way to scale up the model of more than 20 green banks in states including Michigan and Maryland that invest in programmes such as residential solar and installation of efficient heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers.

The non-profit green banks help reduce risk of projects in lower-income communities by providing a financial backstop and help attract private sector investment.

Michael Regan, the EPA administrator, said Biden’s fund will spur private investment into clean technology and “expand economic opportunity for communities that have been left behind”.

In June, the administration launched a US$7 billion grant programme to give low-income communities access to residential solar panels.

The deadline for applying to the programs launched on Friday is Oct. 12.