The Presidents Budget Request on Energy

The following items, FYI, are take directly from the Presidents budget request (slide 23 & 24):

The Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI):

The AEI is accelerating breakthroughs in how we power our homes, cars, and businesses and will help the U.S. to diversify its sources of energy, reduce dependency on oil and increase our energy security.

• Coal Research Initiative: $385 million to complete the President’s commitment to invest $2 billion over 10 years – three years ahead of schedule— to develop technologies to reduce air emissions while providing domestically secure, cost-efficient electricity from America’s huge coal reserve.

o FutureGen Project: $108 million towards construction of a nearly emissions-free coal plant that captures and stores carbon dioxide rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

• Solar America Initiative: $148 million toward the goal of making solar technology cost competitive with conventional electricity by 2025.

• Biofuels Initiative: $179 million to research the production of cellulosic ethanol from corn and to make other organic materials available as a competitive energy alternative by 2012.

• Hydrogen Fuel Initiative: $309 million will complete the President’s five-year, $1.2 billion commitment to support the development of commercially viable hydrogen technologies and fuel cell vehicles by 2020.

• Nuclear Power 2010: $114 million—more than double the funding in the 2007 Budget—toward this $1.1 billion government/ private sector partnership to license new reactors and for private industry to obtain licenses for new designs that could result in new power plants ordered by 2009 and operating by 2014.

• Global Nuclear Energy Partnership: $395 million to continue strong support for engineering and design of advanced reactors and new nuclear waste recycling approaches with the potential to reduce the toxicity and volume of nuclear waste that requires disposal in a permanent repository. Solving the nuclear waste issue paves the way for expanding the safe use of nuclear power around the world and at home, promotes nuclear nonproliferation, and resolves nuclear waste disposal issues through an international framework.

• Advanced Battery Research: $42 million to accelerate research on advanced battery technologies for "plug-in" hybrid vehicles that can be recharged at night.

Accelerating deployment of advanced coal technology:

EPAct 2005 authorizes the allocation of $1.65 billion in tax credits to foster more than $9 billion in private investments to construct highly efficient and low emission coal power facilities. $1 billion in tax credits were awarded in 2006

Accelerating scientific progress through the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI):

ACI is designed to support basic research and world-leading facilities in the physical sciences to enable future breakthroughs and provide economic security benefits.

• Department of Energy's Office of Science: $4.4 billion, to strengthen research and cutting edge facilities, such as new bio-energy research centers; increase contributions toward a major international fusion energy program; expand supercomputing facilities and related research; and support design and construction activities for world-leading light sources.

o $160 million for the United States’ contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

Renewable Energy Access also has a post on this subject, they have dug a little deeper in the budget than I have, so it may be worth a read.

Update 12:23 am Feb. 7, 2007: For those interested in more details for the DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy FY 2008 “Budget-in-Brief” and “Budget Request Presentation”  they can be found at:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/ba/pdfs/FY08_budget_brief.pdf
http://www.eere.energy.gov/ba/pdfs/FY08_budget_request.pdf

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee plans a full committee hearing
on the FY 2008 budget proposal for the Department of Energy in 7 February.

While this is a budget request, it is somewhat indicative what might be passed by congress. While I am a big supporter of biofuels, a greater amount for biofuels than solar is not warranted. What is needed is action on demonstration plants for cellulosic biofuels, which was included in last years appropriations (REA found that the amount of loan guarantees would be increased from $4 billion to $9 billion, which I assume includes amounts for IGCC and nuclear plants as well as cellulosic biofuels).  Solar, along with wind which is developed to the point that it does not need government funding for research (REA says there is still $40 million in the budget), promises to be the major source of renewable energy in the future.  Wave power should have some research at this point.

I support aid for the construction of the first few new generation nuclear plants, but much too much money is being requested for more research, except for the amount to be used to develop better waste disposal technologies. The amount for hydrogen research is also too high compared to what is being requested for biofuels and renewable energy.

Industry is doing pretty well on battery development, but to the extent that the government can help that effort, I don't have any problem with them getting involved.

The fact sheets do not give enough detail to know exactly where the money is going so it is hard to make specific comments or recommendations. That said, I would like to see money removed from the nuclear and hydrogen budgets and transferred to biofuels, solar and a wave research program. I don't see the biofuels amount being reduced, in fact funds should be added for a butanol program. Solar deserves more money than biofuels though.  As long as the money is for research and building demonstration projects and not for continuing subsidies, the government has a role to play in providing money that private industry does not have the resources to provide.

Comments

[averagejoe]

It would be nice if they allocated at least 5 million for Focus fusion research. That amount of money is a drop in the bucket compared to everything else. The potential payoff (energy, propulsion, defense) could be enormous. Personally, I'd scrap the Hydrogen initiative and fund research into focus fusion, electric/Plugin hybrids, and quantum dot spinoffs.

[Interested]

More money should be allocated to battery research. Hydrogen is a dead end, and used as a crutch for non-action.

[Greg Woulf]

I think solar is self-sustaining now so the government doesn't have to support them as much.

I would like to see more research into Battery development, reasonable biofuels(algae and not corn), and I'd like to see a federal initiative to build some very few and modern nuclear plants as test beds.

I wouldn't go the way of France and build for 80% of the country's needs from nuclear, but I would build some.

[Wind Lover]

It should be the goal of the government to make coal, gas and oil factories uneconomical to build so that we have no new installations. All subsidies to these industries should be phased out over 5 years and the money shifted towards wind and solar. This is national security imperative as well as a human species security problem.

Problem is that the Republicans and a few Democrats are suckling off the teet of big fossil.

[Jimmi]

Yes yes... more battery funding. The gov't should consider extending the ZEV credits another 5-10 years. With the credits due to expire soon and the battery technology is just starting to get ramped up... an extension should be a bare minimum in addition to direct funding. Bringing down the cost of batteries should be priority one since it shows the most potential in the least amount of time.

Cheers!!!

[Alan]

Under Solar America Initiative, I think you mean to say that the goal is to make solar energy competitive with fossil fuels by 2015. As for the solar energy budget request, I'm a bit disappointed that it isn't larger than the FY2007 request. Glad to see a couple million allocated for solar heating and lighting, though.

As for the comment that fossil fuel industries should be made uncompetitive by phasing out their subsidies, I don't think that will work. Their subsidies are large compared to those for renewables, but those industries are so large that the subsidies don't really add more than a couple percent to the cost of fossil-based energy sources. Shifting that money over to renewables would make a huge difference in their budgets, though....

[karl (fuel cells use methane, not just hydrogen]

I wonder if the end of life use of fallow fields to power steam turbines instead of the fuel cells that could be afforded in the short term even with the capital missdirected at a wind farm component could afford? Or even more fairly if handed across there viability term at the optimal time to fuel cells as fallow they are and maybe they should be corked till what's left can best be savored.

[karl (throwing money at research is a misguided executive role)]

It's structural change that lawmakers can impose without mandating anyones funds be spent. Want more spent on solar? Let people borrow undischargably to afford silicon instead of tar the next time there roof springs a leak, and see what the market does, see all the hot tar fumes no longer an issue next door, in front of you on the street, but rather just lower cooling bills for the free shade instead of sweating underpaids setting down a layer like the goal is to make everyone else pay more or stockpile petrol on the roof for the day when one sits whiling the winter away in the back yard ax in hand to chop up the house to feed the bonfire a few more days.

Instead we tax dog food to widen roads that are stop and go even more so for the favor.

Energy doesn't need any research funding. It needs regulation!

[Android Tablet PCs]

Jason,
You can discover what Steven Carew "has got" by visiting wholesale the website for Rhino Hydro. There are a few "update" items there, dated 2004.

But, the essence of Steve's invention is described under the "technical" menu selection, as follows:

"This electro generating plant employs magnets and springs to help create a perpetual motion which hiphone drives a generator. Thus giving you the electricity you need."

Get the picture, Jason? Hard to imagine Steve can't get funding . . .2945abc45 0422