On 1 February US energy secretary Steven Chu set out president Obama’s $28.4 billion fiscal year 2011 budget request for the Department of Energy, highlighting the Administration’s determination to create jobs with the development of a clean energy economy, and improve energy efficiency to help curb greenhouse gas emissions. This would mean a suitable investment in advanced science, research and innovation. The budget request also covers the maintainenance of a strong nuclear deterrent and security of nuclear materials both at home and abroad. The budget request also places an emphasis on DOE's improving its fiscal performance with the proposed creation of a new initiative on management reform.
"The President's budget cuts wasteful spending while making wise investments in innovation and clean energy that will put Americans back to work, save families money and keep our nation competitive in the global marketplace," said Secretary Chu. "This budget supports new approaches to energy research and invests in the next generation of scientists and engineers, and it will spark new clean energy projects nationwide, including restarting the American nuclear power industry."
Specific items on the agenda call for:
•Positioning the USA as the global leader in the new energy economy by developing new ways to produce and use clean and renewable energy.
•Maintaining effective nuclear deterrence 'while working to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years'.
•Engages in cross-disciplinary scientific approaches to energy and other national priorities.
•Expanding the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal while supporting the Administration’s goal to develop a smart, strong, and secure electricity grid.
•Promoting innovation in the renewable and nuclear energy sectors through the use of expanded loan guarantee authority.
•Advancing responsible environmental management by cleaning up hazardous, radioactive legacy waste from the Manhattan Project (ie the atomic bomb) and the Cold War.
Several programem reductions and terminations were also proposed, including the elimination of more than $2.7 billion in tax subsidies for the oil, coal and gas industries. This step is estimated to generate more than $38.8 billion dollars in revenue for the federal government over the course of the next 10 years.
But more than $217 millionis to be set aside for new funding for science research and discovery, including an additional $40 million for the existing Energy Frontier Research Centres programme and $107 million for Energy Innovation Hubs, while the Administration's lending authority is to support approximately $40 billion in loan guarantees for innovative clean energy programmes and more than $108 million will be found in new funding to advance and expand research in the areas of wind, solar and geothermal energies.
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