- DOE to Invest $8B in Weatherization and State Energy Grants
- Appropriations Act Provides $2B in New Funding for EERE
- Interior Department Pursues Renewable Energy on Land & Sea
- USDA Funds Energy Audits for Farms, Ranches, Rural Small Businesses
- Electric Industry Examines Adding Solar Energy to Coal Plants
- U.S. Transit Use Up, Driving Down in 2008
- Cellulosic Ethanol Gains Ground in Iowa, NY, South Dakota
- Extended Daylight Saving Time Saves Energy
- U.S. GHG Emissions Increased 1.4% in 2007
- Worsening Findings on Climate Change
- Space Shuttle Delivers Final Set of Solar Wings to the ISS
DOE to Invest $8 Billion in Weatherization and State Energy Grants
DOE announced last week that it will invest nearly $8 billion in state and local weatherization and energy efficiency efforts as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds will be divided between the Weatherization Assistance Program, which will receive nearly $5 billion, and the State Energy Program, which will receive nearly $3 billion. This will help families save hundreds of dollars every year on their energy bills, while creating approximately 87,000 jobs. To jump-start the job creation and weatherization work, DOE is initially releasing $780 million and will release more as the states demonstrate that they are using the funding effectively.
The State Energy Program funding will be used to provide rebates to consumers for home energy audits or other energy-saving improvements; to develop renewable energy and alternative fuel projects; to promote Energy Star products; to upgrade the energy efficiency of state and local government buildings; and other innovative state efforts to help families save money on their energy bills.
The weatherization funding will improve the energy efficiency of the homes of low-income families by adding more insulation, sealing leaks, or modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, at a cost of up to $6,500 per home. The energy efficiency upgrades will be available for families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this translates to about $44,000 per year in the lower 48 states, $55,140 per year in Alaska, and $50,720 per year in Hawaii. DOE announced specific funding levels for each of the states, ranging from $30 million for Hawaii to $545.7 million for Texas. See the DOE press release, the Weatherization Assistance Program Web site, and the State Energy Program Web site.
Appropriations Act Provides Nearly $2 Billion in New Funding for EERE
The omnibus appropriation act signed into law last week provides $1.93 billion for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which runs through the end of September. The funding represents a 13.5% increase above FY 2008 funding, which was $1.72 billion.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided a one-time injection of $16.8 billion into the EERE budget. Combining that economic stimulus funding with the FY 2009 budget yields a total budget of $18.73 billion for EERE, an 11-fold increase above FY 2008 funding levels. See the president's press release on the appropriations act, and see the article from this newsletter on the economic stimulus funding.
Of the $1.93 billion in new funding for EERE, the act provides:
* $273M for vehicle technologies, including $25M for the Clean Cities program;
* $217M for biomass energy;
* $175M for solar energy, including $30M for concentrating solar power;
* $169M for hydrogen technology, including $3M for fuel processors and $5M for manufacturing activities;
* $140M for building technologies, including $33M for the Commercial Buildings Initiative and $25M for solid-state lighting;
* $90M for industrial technologies, including $7.5M for energy-saving technologies for the steel, glass, and metal-casting industries and $25M to support distributed energy, combined heat and power, and advanced reciprocating engines;
* $55M for wind energy;
* $44M for geothermal energy;
* $40M for "water power," which includes conventional hydropower and tidal and marine technologies;
* $22M for the Federal Energy Management Program.
Given the separate funding injection from the economic stimulus act, these funding levels are difficult to analyze, but they represent clear funding gains for nearly all of these technology programs, including a doubling in funding for geothermal energy and a four-fold increase in water power funding relative to FY 2008.
EERE's grant programs, international programs, infrastructure development activities, and other supporting activities also received funding increases under the appropriations act:
* Weatherization Assistance Program: $200M
* State Energy Program: $50M, adding to the $8 billion from the stimulus act.
* International Renewable Energy Program: additional $5 million; $6 million for tribal energy
* Facilities and infrastructure: $76M, most of which will go to DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, including $41M to complete construction of the Energy Systems Integration Facility.
* Renewable Energy Production Incentive: $5M
* DOE program support: $146M
* Congressionally-directed projects (earmarks): $229M - a 23% increase from FY2008. President Obama has proposed new earmark reforms for the FY 2010 budget.
See the full appropriations act, a summary of the appropriations for energy and water (PDF 44 KB), pages 33-34 of the energy and water section of the appropriations act (PDF 2.8 MB), pages 58-67 of the accompanying explanatory statement for the appropriations (PDF 18.4 MB), and for background, page 65 of the EERE budget request for FY 2009 (PDF 438 KB), which includes prior-year funding levels.
Interior Department Pursues Renewable Energy on Land and at Sea
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced initiatives and agreements aimed at accelerating the development of renewable energy on public lands and on the outer continental shelf (OCS). Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a Secretarial Order that declares renewable energy development as a top priority for the department.
The order also establishes a task force that will identify specific zones on public lands and on the OCS where the Interior Department can facilitate the development of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy, as well as small hydropower or incremental hydropower additions to existing structures.
