Request Forwards President Bush's Initiatives to Advance Clean Energy Alternatives, Maintain America's Edge in Scientific Innovation and Discovery, Continue Strong Economic Growth, and Ensure the Reliability of our Nuclear Weapons Stockpile
U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today announced President Bush's $24.3 billion budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. This request supports continued scientific discovery and the development of alternative energy sources that are vital to America's energy and economic security. Funding priorities include investments to address growing demand for affordable, clean and reliable energy; further scientific discovery; continue the legacy waste environmental cleanup; and strengthen and maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile while promoting global non-proliferation.
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Among the President's goals funded in the FY 2008 budget request include $179 million for the President's Biofuels Initiative, an increase of $29 million (19 percent) compared to the 2007 budget request, to help achieve the President's goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012. This will help reach President Bush's goal to reduce U.S. consumption of gasoline by 20 percent in ten years. In addition, to increase our energy security, the FY 2008 budget includes $168 million to begin the doubling of our nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels by 2027.
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The FY 2008 budget request includes $2.7 billion, a 26 percent increase above the FY 2007 request of $2.1 billion, and 53 percent above FY 2006, to advance President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative. This initiative seeks to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy and transform the national energy economy by promoting the development of cleaner sources of electricity production. The FY 2008 request supports AEI goals to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies, such as biomass, hydrogen, and solar energy; clean coal technologies through FutureGen; and nuclear energy technologies, through the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. These funds support a diverse portfolio of energy research, development, and commercialization programs designed to meet the energy challenges of the 21st century.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($1.24 billion)
budget includes significant funding increases for hydrogen technology,
vehicle technology, biomass, and building technology programs. The
Office of Fossil Energy ($863 million) supports research and
development of low cost carbon sequestration technology for new and
existing coal plants, the Clean Coal Power Initiative, and the
FutureGen project, which will establish the capability and feasibility
of co-producing electricity and hydrogen from coal with near-zero
emissions for start-up in 2012.
The Office of Nuclear Energy ($875 million) includes $395 million
for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and other activities to support
the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). (In addition, $10 million
is provided to GNEP from the National Nuclear Security Administration
to promote GNEP's non-proliferation goals, for a total of $405 million
for GNEP.); and also supports Generation IV, Nuclear Power 2010, and
the standby support, or risk insurance, called for in the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (EPAct), to protect against unexpected delays of nuclear
power plant construction and spur investments in emissions-free nuclear
energy.
In addition, the Department's FY 2008 requests $8.4 million to
operate an Office of Loan Guarantees and the ability to expand DOE's
loan volume limitation to $9 billion. This funding will help spur the
commercial development of new and novel clean energy technologies.
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