Department of Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) budget request for FY 2008 totals $24.3 billion, a 3 percent increase above the FY07 request. Key priorities in the budget are tied to President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, and American Competitiveness Initiative. The initiatives would affect most directly the department’s four energy offices, which together would receive a 20 percent boost in funding under the proposed budget and the Office of Science, which would receive a 7 percent increase. The Office of Fossil Energy and the Office of Nuclear Energy are expecting the biggest gains, at 33 percent and 38 percent, respectively. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would receive a five percent increase, and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability would see its funding reduced by 8 percent. Advanced Energy Initiative

The FY08 request includes $2.7 billion for the second year of the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), an initiative to promote the development of cleaner sources of electricity production. Areas of research targeted for increased support in FY08 include energy research and the commercialization of biomass, hydrogen, solar, cleaner coal and nuclear technologies. The new budget also requests $8.4 million to create an Office of Loan Guarantees to spur the commercial development of new clean energy technologies.



The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) would receive $1.24 billion under the proposed budget, and would dedicate $756 million to AEI-related projects. EERE conducts research, development and deployment activities to advance energy efficiency and clean power technologies and practices. EERE programs that would receive a boost under the new AEI-related funding include:

• Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology - $213 million to expand research on the production, storage, and delivery of hydrogen.
• Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D - $179 million to increase biomass R&D and additional support companies that intend to commercialize small biorefineries and validate new biomass conversion technologies.
• Solar America Initiative - $148 million to accelerate the commercialization of solar energy technologies, particularly for heating and lighting systems.
• Wind Energy - $40 million to increase wind energy use while scaling back on research into the viability of wind energy technologies.
• Vehicle Technologies - $176 million to increase funding for research into hybrid electric systems and vehicle technology integration.

EERE also would receive $86.5 million to develop technologies to make buildings more energy efficient, and to increase efforts to introduce these technologies to the market. No request has been made for Geothermal or Hydropower activities.

 

The Office of Fossil Energy would receive $427 million to develop clean coal technologies as part of AEI, 29 percent above the FY07 request. The FY07 budget proposes to cancel $149 million in prior-year balances for the Clean Coal Technology program. The budget request states these balances are no longer needed to complete active projects in the Clean Coal Technology program. Instead, $108 million would be transferred to the FutureGen program, and the Clean Coal Power Initiative, both of which conduct similar research to the original program. Clean coal requests include:

• FutureGen - $108 million to build the world’s first coal-fired power plant that produces electricity and hydrogen with nearly zero emissions.
• Clean Coal Power Initiative - $73 million to initiate, by or before 2010, demonstration of advanced coal-based power generation technologies.
• Coal Fuels and Power Systems R&D - $246 million to continue other coal research such as carbon sequestration, advanced turbines, fuels, fuel cells and coal gasification. No new request for funding to support innovations for existing plants.

Office of Fossil Energy R&D overall would receive $567 million. Program Direction would receive relatively flat funding at $129 million. Fossil Energy Environment Restoration R&D would receive $9.5 million. As was the case with the FY07 request, the Administration seeks no funding for the following research areas that Congress continues to fund:

• Advanced Metallurgical Research – no new funding requested
• Natural Gas Technologies R&D – no new funding requested
• Petroleum Oil Technology R&D – no new funding requested
• Plant and Capital Equipment – no new funding requested

The Office of Nuclear Energy would receive $875 million under the proposed budget, $568 million of which would be used to support the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and other activities related to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and AEI. Office of Nuclear Energy programs of interest include:

• Nuclear Power 2010 - $114 million (110 percent increase) to develop the nuclear technologies, infrastructure and regulations.
• Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative - $36 million to invest in advanced nuclear science and technologies through public-private partnerships.
• Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative - $23 million to demonstrate the economic, commercial-scale production of hydrogen using nuclear energy.
• Global Nuclear Energy Partnership - $395 million (63 percent increase) to fund the Advanced Fuel Cycle Partnership and to promote the use of nuclear power.

AEI funding also would be used to increase basic research into alternative energy under the Office of Science. The office would receive $685 million for a variety of R&D activities and program management. Targeted areas for research include:

• ITER Fusion Project - $160 million to contribute to the international project to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy production
• Fusion Energy (not including ITER) - $268 million
• Solar - $69 million
• Biomass - $113 million
• Hydrogen - $75 million

Hydrogen Fuel Initiative

The 2008 budget includes $309 million through the president’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI) to develop practical technologies for powering automobiles with hydrogen power. DOE would be the main vehicle for the initiative, though nine agencies participate in hydrogen research coordinated by the Interagency Working Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells under the National Science and Technology Council. Several HFI-funded programs overlap with those of the AEI. HFI programs include:

• Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology - $213 million under the EERE Hydrogen research program
• Hydrogen from Coal - $13 million (47 percent decrease) through the Office of Fossil Energy
• Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative - $23 million through the Office of Nuclear Energy
• Hydrogen Basic Research - $60 million through the Office of Science

Non-DOE HFI funding in the FY08 budget is requested for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technologies Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These DOT programs would receive $1 million to develop hydrogen standards and safety technologies.

 

American Competitiveness Initiative

The 2008 request would contribute $4.4 billion to the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the main vehicle for DOE participation in the American Competitiveness Initiative. This year’s budget request would increase the funding for fusion energy science research by 34 percent, while proposing moderate increases for other areas. The request includes:

• Basic Energy Sciences - $1.5 billion
• Advanced Scientific Computing Research - $340 million
• Biological and Environmental Research - $532 million
• High Energy Physics - $782 million
• Nuclear Physics - $471 million
• Fusion Energy Sciences - $428 million
• Science Laboratories Infrastructure - $79 million
• Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists - $11 million