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Feds Turn Hot, Cold Shoulder to
Renewable Energy
February 14, 2007
Congress and the White House
continued their good-news, bad-news approach to national energy
policy last week. At the beginning of the month, the White House
proposed a budget for renewable energy research in Fiscal Year 2008
that increases spending slightly over that of last year. However,
the 2008 budget covers a big biofuels initiative with cuts in
efficiency programs and the Wind Energy Program, and eliminates the
Geothermal Energy Research Program altogether. For details about the
2008 budget proposals, see the news story in the February 7 edition
of EERE Network News:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm
The cuts to efficiency program
reverses the approach of the early years of the Bush Administration,
which featured increases to the Weatherization Assistance, this
country’s largest energy efficiency program, at the expense of
renewable energy research. National energy advocates led by the
Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) in Washington, D.C., pointed out that
any energy policy that does not put efficiency first is missing out
on the most cost-effective energy resource. ASE President Kateri
Callahan pointed out that the average American family spent about
$5,000 on energy last year, which was up 32% from two years ago. See
the ASE February 5 press release:
http://www.ase.org/content/news/detail/3576
There is no doubt that the
President understands biofuels. In his State of the Union message in
January, Mr. Bush called for America to reduce oil consumption by
20% in 10 years. To get there, he proposes a mandatory renewable
fuel standard of 35 billion gallons in 2017. He is also seeking an
additional $1.6 billion for research and production of cellulosic
ethanol, which is made from the stalks of plants, wood chips, and
other agricultural residues instead of food crops.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed a budget for FY 2007 last week that increases
funding for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(EERE) research programs by a whopping $300 million. The Senate is
scheduled to vote on the package this week. The measure could result
in a bulge of funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
this year. See an article published by the Rocky Mountain News in
its February 6 edition that was written by News Staff Writer Gargi
Chakrabarty:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5331081,00.html
Funding for NREL: a
Bellwether for National Energy Policy
If it materializes, the funding
increases will likely be welcomed at NREL. DOE funding for renewable
energy research at the lab has decreased steadily over the last six
years, and the campus shows the strains of scrimping. Senior
researchers in the Solar Program share cubicles because office space
is in short supply. There is no cafeteria, so the researchers rotate
into their cubes for lunches. Management waits until summer to hold
all-hands meetings outdoors. The largest meeting room at NREL will
hold but a single department.
See an article in the January 25
edition of the New York Times by Clifford Krauss titled
“Energy Research on a Shoestring; 30 Years After Opening, a Lab for
Alternative Power Goes Begging.” Times subscribers can view the
article online at:
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30611F83D5B0C768EDDA80894DF404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fE%2fEnergy%20Department%20
But a single year’s windfall
will not change the tide for energy policy. NREL leadership has
stressed for years that technology development is a long-term
investment that requires a steady, prudent guiding hand.
U.S. Congressional
Representatives from Colorado Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) and Ed
Perlmutter (D-Wheat Ridge) brought this point home in an editorial
in the Sunday edition of the Denver Post. Udall said recently,
“You’ve got to invest in this new energy future that everybody pays
lip service to, but when push comes to shove do we really stand
there? This is the country’s economic future, not to mention the
national security ramifications.” See the editorial, titled “NREL Is
the Gateway to a Clean Energy Future:”
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_5189709 |
