It includes $300 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency- Energy (ARPA-E), for transformational energy research that industry by itself cannot and will not support. ARPA-E received $15 million in initial DOE funding in FY 2009 as well as $400 million in Recovery Act funds. The budget also requests an additional $140 million for the Energy Frontier Research Centers program, including two new centers, and $107 million for Energy Innovation Hubs.
DOE will continue funding the three Energy Innovation Hubs introduced in FY 2010: fuels produced directly from sunlight; improving energy efficient building systems design; and creating a virtual model of an operating nuclear reactor. For FY 2011, DOE is proposing a new hub dedicated to batteries and energy storage. See text pages 2-3, 5-8, 18, 20-24, 32-34, and 53-55 (PDF pages 7-8, 10-13, 23, 25-29, 37-39, and 58-60) of the DOE Budget Highlights document.
Ag and Interior Departments Propose Boosts for Clean Energy Funding
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior (DOI) are proposing to increase funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in their budget requests for FY 2011.
For the DOI, the New Energy Frontier initiative includes:
- $73.3M for renewable energy programs, a 24% increase above 2010 funding levels.
- $19.8M for the Bureau of Land Management to review applications for renewable energy projects on public lands
- $34.9M for the Minerals Management Service for renewable energy activities on the Outer Continental Shelf
- $6.6M for U.S. Geological Survey to analyze and document the effects of renewable energy on wildlife populations
- $7M for the Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct endangered species consultations and help plan and design renewable energy projects that are friendly to wildlife.
- $5M for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to facilitate renewable energy development on tribal lands.
See the DOI press release, and pages DH-3 to DH-7 (PDF pages 1-5) of the proposed budget for the New Energy Frontier initiative (PDF 2.1 MB).
The USDA budget is harder to interpret because much of its funding is mandated by the 2008 Farm Bill. Of the discretionary funding, the budget proposes near-level funding of $39 million for the
Rural Energy for America Program, although it shifts most of the funds to grants, resulting in $34 million in grants and an estimated $12 million in loan guarantees (supported with $5 million in federal funds).
The Farm Bill provides another $70 million, supporting an additional $36 million in grants and an estimated $73 million in loan guarantees. The budget proposes:
- $17M for the
Biorefinery Assistance Program, enough to support $50 million in loan guarantees
- $85M for the
Bioenergy for Advanced Biofuels program.
- $479M for the
Biomass Crop Assistance Program
- $15M for the Forest Biomass for Energy Program (US Forest Service program)
- $5M for the Community Wood Energy Program (U.S. Forest Service program).
In terms of research, the proposed FY 2011 budget provides $10 million to establish five Regional Biofuels Feedstocks Research and Demonstration Centers, which will coordinate government research efforts to accelerate development and deployment of dedicated energy feedstocks.
The USDA budget also includes $34 million for a research initiative to develop cost-effective non-food feedstocks for biofuels.
See pages 16, 30, 35, 56, 58, 96, and 118 of the USDA Budget Summary and Annual Performance Plan for FY 2011 (
PDF 1.78 MB).
