Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
then, DOE's budget authority for renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy R and D
has increased to $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2008. The Office of Science's budget
authority also grew by 16 percent from fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2008.
Further development and deployment of advanced renewable, fossil and
nuclear energy technologies faces three key challenges. First, there are
technology-specific challenges. For example, high-wind sites have generally been
developed using current wind turbine technology. To further expand the use of
wind energy, DOE is working with industry to develop new wind turbine designs
and materials that exploit low-wind and offshore sites. Second, there are cost
challenges. These advanced energy technologies often face high up-front capital
costs and the need to improve operating efficiency so they can better compete
with conventional energy technologies. The nuclear industry, for example,
projects that new nuclear power plants will likely cost between $4 billion and $6
billion each, about twice the cost of comparable conventional coal power plants.
Finally, these technologies face challenges in addressing emerging concerns
related to public health and the environment. For example, DOE is working with
electric power companies to demonstrate coal gasification and carbon
sequestration technologies designed to enable coal plants to reduce carbon dioxide
and mercury emissions.
DOE'
S
B
UDGET
A
UTHORITY FOR
R
ENEWABLE
,
F
OSSIL
,
AND
N
UCLEAR
E
NERGY
R
AND
D
H
AS
S
UBSTANTIALLY
D
ECLINED IN
R
EAL
T
ERMS
S
INCE
1978
DOE's budget authority for renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy R and D
dropped by 92 percent from $6 billion in fiscal year 1978 to $505 million in fiscal
year 1998 (in inflation-adjusted terms) before bouncing back to $1.4 billion in
fiscal year 2008. As shown in figure 2, R and D budget authority in renewable,
fossil, and nuclear energy peaked in the late 1970s and fell sharply in the 1980s.
Since fiscal year 1998, R and D budget authority for renewable and nuclear
energy R and D have grown, while fossil energy R and D funding has fluctuated
in response to coal program initiatives.
Nuclear energy R and D, which received no funding in fiscal year 1998,
experienced the largest increase, rising to $438 million in fiscal year 2008. During
this period, budget authority for renewable energy increased by 89 percent and
fossil energy increased by 116 percent. A comparison of DOE's fiscal year 2009
budget request with the fiscal year 2008 appropriation shows that renewable
