Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
DOE's Budget Authority for Renewable,
Fossil, and Nuclear Energy R and D
Has Substantially Fallen Since 1978
As shown in figure 3, renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy R and D budget
authority each peaked in the late 1970s before falling sharply in the 1980s.
Similarly, energy R and D funding as a percentage of total nondefense R and D
expenditures fell from about 20 percent in the late 1970s to less than 5 percent in
fiscal year 2006, according to the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. More recently, total budget authority for the three energy R and D
programs has risen after bottoming out in fiscal year 1998. Budget authority for
renewable energy R and D peaked at $1.5 billion (in real terms) in fiscal year
1979, with most of the funding directed toward solar energy. Subsequently,
renewable R and D budget authority fell, hitting its lowest point of $144 million
(in real terms) in 1990. Fossil energy R and D budget authority peaked at $1.9
billion (in real terms) in fiscal year 1979 and then has fluctuated. In particular, the
Clean Coal Technology Program, a joint DOE-industry effort to demonstrate
technologies that reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, began in
1985 with high levels of DOE budget authority in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Fossil energy R and D budget authority rose in fiscal year 2001, and the
administration introduced its “clear skies” initiative to further reduce pollution in
fiscal year 2002. DOE's nuclear energy R and D program peaked at $2.4 billion
(in real terms) in fiscal year 1978 and then fell through fiscal year 1998, when the
nuclear R and D program received no budget authority. Since fiscal year 1998,
budget authority for nuclear energy R and D has gradually increased. Similar to
DOE's budget authority for energy R and D, estimated federal revenue losses
from energy-related tax expenditures grew from nearly $2.2 billion (in real terms)
in fiscal year 2000 to nearly $4.9 billion in fiscal year 2005.[8] While many of the
new tax expenditures are for developing and deploying advanced energy
technologies, tax expenditures for conventional energy remain among the largest
in terms of revenue loss. The alternative fuels production credit is the largest
energy-related tax expenditure, with estimated revenue losses of about $2.4 billion
in fiscal year 2006.[9]
In fiscal year 2006, the Congress provided about $982 million in budget
authority for energy R and D, including $324 million for renewable energy R and
D, about $434 million for fossil energy R and D, and about $224 million for
nuclear energy R and D (see fig. 4). The biomass, solar, and hydrogen energy
programs received about 80 percent of the renewable energy R and D budget
authority. Similarly, coal R and D programs received more than 80 percent of the
