|
February
13, 2003
House Committee on Science
Testimony of Robert Card, Under Secretary of
Energy,
Science, and Environment, Department of Energy,
on The DOE's FY 2004 Budget Submission
Introduction
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, it is
a pleasure to join you today to present details
on the Department of Energy's FY 2004 budget
submission. The Department appreciates the support
of the chairman and the members of the committee
over the past years and I look forward to working
with you to ensure this nation stays at the
leading edge in science and technology in the
21st Century.
As Secretary Abraham noted recently, the Department
has an "an ambitious, long-term vision
of a zero-emissions future free of reliance
on imported energy." As we look to the
carbon free generation of electricity and hydrogen,
it is clear that there is but one path open
to us. We must call upon science, technology,
and the research talents in our national laboratories,
universities, and industry to help us improve
and move beyond today's energy choices.
This year's budget demonstrates that the Department
takes its responsibilities toward science and
technology seriously because we take our responsibility
toward national security seriously. Secretary
Abraham has made clear that all missions at
our Department flow from our core mission to
support national security. We have, therefore,
taken a deliberate and integrated approach to
our research and development portfolio, using
the strengths of all our programs to address
this central mission. Clearly, environmental
security and economic security underpin national
security and each is sustained by science.
What is more, there is only one way to build
an integrated budget and that is to engage in
a vigorous and disciplined planning process
that forces programs to set priorities. I think
we have done that in this budget submission.
Mr. Chairman, consider how key initiatives undertaken
in the FY2 04 budget are mutually supportive
of the Department's overarching mission and
reflect the need to set priorities:
• The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative
- a major effort toward zero emissions and energy
independence -- looks toward critical research
and development efforts to develop fuel cell
technology, and to find ways to produce and
distribute hydrogen.
• Our request for carbon sequestration,
a critical effort in our climate change program,
is forty percent greater than last year. Here
too, we look to science and technology, some
of it extraordinarily exciting, to help us address
a host of concerns.
• This year's request represents a major
restructuring of our technology programs focused
on the nuclear fuel cycle. With our Advanced
Fuel Cycle Initiative the Secretary is challenging
our department's best scientists to help devise
a new approach to establishing a safe, sustainable,
and proliferation resistant future for nuclear
energy. Our nuclear programs are also integrated
across DOE R&D portfolio, including improving
the repository at Yucca Mountain, and will support
our hydrogen fuels initiatives.
• We are also committed to leapfrogging
today's energy choices with advanced concepts
such as fusion. The President has announced
that we will enter negotiations on ITER, to
explore the next critical step in bringing electricity
from fusion energy to the grid. If fusion proves
successful, it could be the dominant new energy
source for the end of this century and beyond.
• The Department is continuing its work
as a critical part of the President's initiative
on nanoscience. As the Chairman has noted, the
Department is a major contributor in the nanotechnology
field, and we intend to continue our leadership
role by fully funding the construction of five
nanoscience centers. These will be unique and
essential facilities to help us realize the
remarkable promise of nanotechnology.
These initiatives work together. For example,
materials work from nanoscience will contribute
to advanced fuel cell work, and fusion will
one day perhaps give us the hydrogen we need
to run those fuel cells.
We are fortunate to have a strong and well recognized
global technology leadership role. As will become
clear in the testimony that follows, many of
the technologies that contribute to energy independence
also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The President's National Climate Change Technology
Initiative (NCCTI) will help inventory and prioritize
all climate change activities within the $1.6
billion worth of technology R&D that is
included in the scope of the Climate Change
Technology Program (CCTP), including clean coal,
natural gas and other carbon management activities
in fossil energy R&D. Within the CCTP the
National Climate Change Technology Initiative
(NCCTI) Competitive Solicitation program the
budget requests $40 million to competitively
award cost-share projects to research and develop
technology that can help avoid, reduce, or sequester,
greenhouse gases emissions.
Let me assure the committee that we recognize
that all programs in the Department, not just
these initiatives, must be managed to provide
the taxpayer with the maximum benefit. We take
the President's Management Agenda very seriously.
Each of the programs at the Department has undergone,
or is currently working on, a major restructuring,
as well as bringing its programs in line with
critical performance measures.
Before addressing the specifics of our research
and development programs for FY2004, I would
like to point out that research underpins almost
every major program activity in the Department.
Scientific research is the key to ensuring the
reliability of our nuclear deterrent, and to
the contributions that our national laboratories
are making to counter-terrorism. It was also
the key to the decision to move forward with
the Yucca Mountain site as a repository for
nuclear waste, a decision supported by 20 years
and $4 billion worth of scientific study conducted
by some of the world's preeminent scientists
and carefully reviewed by outside bodies, including
the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Let me now review the program areas within my
area of responsibility in greater detail.
The Office of Science
Overview. The FY2004 budget request for the
Office of Science supports the President's goal
of ensuring continued U.S. leadership in science,
and will enable the Office of Science to continue
to support the Departments' missions in energy,
environment and national security. Our economy,
our energy security and our national security
depend upon scientific discovery, which is the
driver for technological innovation, and the
Office of Science is a vital part of the Nation's
scientific base. It is the largest single funding
source for basic research in the physical sciences,
and has provided approximately 40 percent of
all federal funds in this area over the past
decade. It is also the steward, and by far the
principal funding agency, of the nation's research
programs in high-energy physics, nuclear physics
and fusion energy sciences, as well as being
the federal government's largest single funder
of materials and chemical sciences.
The Office of Science also supports unique or
critical pieces of U.S. research in scientific
computation, climate change, geophysics, genomics,
and the life sciences. This research is conducted
at both the Department's national laboratories
and at approximately 250 universities nationwide.
The Office of Science manages the construction
and operation of some of the nation's most advanced
research and development facilities - a vital
part of the Nation's scientific infrastructure
used by over 18,000 researchers annually.
The Department is aware of its obligation to
manage these important resources well and to
provide maximum benefit to the Nation. The Administration's
FY2004 evaluation of Office of Science found
that they had clearly defined purposes and were
generally well managed, and has also cited our
process of "Lehman Reviews" of construction
projects as a "…widely recognized
effective practice." We are also automating
many of our routine operations and by the end
of FY2004 100% of grant and contract proposals
will be received electronically by the Office
of Science, 65% of purchase orders will done
electronically, and 80% of field work proposals
will be processed electronically - including
100% of new projects. I would also note that
the effectiveness of the management of our scientific
programs is attested to by a history of success,
the most recent example being the award of the
2002 Nobel Prize in Physics to Dr. Raymond Davis
for his pioneering observations of neutrinos
from the Sun, and the stunning discovery of
neutrino mass and neutrino transmutations. We
share this success proudly with the National
Science Foundation, which also supported Dr.
Davis's research.
The Office of Science is now in the process
of implementing a restructuring to improve oversight
of our laboratories by removing a layer of line
management, and instituting clear chains of
responsibility in accordance with the principles
of the President's Management Agenda.
The Office of Science FY2004 budget request
is $3.311 billion, compared to the $3.264 billion
requested in FY2003. This provides an effective
increase for science of 4.5% when the ramp-down
in construction projects is considered, allowing
us to increase support for high priority scientific
research, continue operation of our large scientific
user facilities, keep existing construction
projects on schedule, and support new initiatives.
Office of Science research programs are managed
in six major areas, and also include a restructured
and enhanced effort in science education:
Fusion Energy Sciences. On January 30th, President
Bush announced our intention to join the ITER
project. The Department of Energy is the lead
U.S. agency in this effort. ITER will allow
us to explore the physics of a burning plasma
- the essential next step in realizing the promise
of commercially available fusion power. In 1997
the U.S. decided to allow the agreement covering
U.S. participation in ITER to expire. At the
time, the U.S. government had concerns about
the scale of the ITER program and the ability
of established management and financial structures
to protect the U.S. taxpayer. In the meantime,
the program has been rescaled and rebudgeted.
A recent "Lehman review" of the management
and cost estimates at ITER combined with scientific
reviews performed by the National Research Council
and DOE's Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee
have provided a strong basis for President Bush's
January 30th decision to join the ITER negotiations.
We have dedicated $12 million within the FES
program budget for FY 2004 to support research
directly tied to our participation in the ITER
project.
The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences will also
continue its other programs of research to advance
plasma science and fusion science, including
its partnership in basic plasma science with
the National Science Foundation. It will continue
the operation of DIII-D, Alcator C-Mod and the
National Spherical Torus Experiment and investigate
alternative fusion concepts that may improve
the economic or environmental possibilities
for fusion energy. The Office of Fusion Energy
Sciences will also continue its basic research
in inertial fusion energy in concert with the
National Nuclear Security Administration.
As the committee is aware, fusion energy has
many potential advantages over current methods
of electricity generation, not the least of
which is a possible future contribution to the
hydrogen-based economy through the emission-free
production of hydrogen.
Advanced Scientific Computing Research. The
Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research
provides the high performance computational
and networking resources that are indispensable
tools for discovery. The capabilities of terascale
computing are transforming the conduct of science,
bringing scientific simulation through computational
modeling to parity with theory and experiment
as a scientific tool. The Office of Advanced
Scientific Computing Research also funds basic
research in mathematical methods and computer
science that enable scientists to more effectively
use these resources. Every Energy Science and
Environment mission area is likely to benefit
from scientific insights generated through computational
modeling on high end supercomputers in areas
ranging from combustion processes to design
of new materials to the movement of wastes and
other contaminants through the environment.
The Office of Advanced Scientific Computing
Research is at the center of efforts to realize
the full potential of scientific simulation
to solve mission related problems. It will support
the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing
program, a set of coordinated investments that
cross-cuts Office of Science research programs.
This program is a multidisciplinary effort involving
teams of mathematicians, computer scientists,
and application area scientists working to develop
a new set of scientific simulation codes that
can fully exploit today's terascale computing
resources.
In FY2004, $14 million is dedicated to a new
Next Generation Architecture program to optimize
computer architecture to meet the special requirements
of scientific problems. This effort will include
both evaluation of the impact of alternative
architectures on application performance, and
software research on next generation operating
systems.
The Office of Advanced Scientific Computing
Research will continue to support existing research
programs and facilities, such as the National
Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, now
being upgraded to double its capability to support
leading edge science.
Basic Energy Sciences. The Office of Basic Energy
Sciences is responsible for construction and
operation of the world's premier suite of large
scientific user facilities, and is a principal
Federal sponsor of fundamental research in the
areas of materials sciences and engineering,
chemistry, geosciences, and bioscience as it
relates to energy. In FY2004, the request for
the Office of Basic Energy Sciences will increase
funding for the President's initiative in nanoscience
by $64 million to $193 million. This will allow
construction to proceed on a Nanoscience Research
Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as
well as new construction of Nanoscience Research
Centers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
and Sandia National Laboratory in partnership
with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
It also provides Project Engineering Design
funding for an Nanorscience Research Center
at Brookhaven National Laboratory and funds
a Major Item of Equipment for a Nanoscience
Research Center at Argonne National Laboratory,
where the State of Illinois is funding the construction
of the building. When complete, these centers
will enable the nanoscale revolution by co-locating
multiple research disciplines and a wide variety
of nanoscience instrumentation, and their siting
near existing light sources or neutron sources
will allow rapid characterization of newly fabricated
materials. This centralization of resources
will provide "one-stop shopping" for
scientists who now must often go to widely dispersed
facilities to complete their research.
The FY 2004 budget also provides for continued
research in materials science and engineering,
chemistry, geosciences and energy bioscience
as well as high level operation of existing
user facilities. It continues funding for construction
of the Spallation Neutron Source, which, following
a rebaselining and rescoping exercise in 2001,
is now on budget and schedule for completion
in June of 2006. Our request will also fund
project engineering design work for the proposed
Linac Coherent Light Source, a 4th generation
light source to provide very short pulse x-ray
light which is orders of magnitude higher in
intensity than today's synchrotron radiation
light sources, offering unprecedented opportunities
to, for example, observe the dynamics of chemical
reactions to develop a deeper understanding
of chemical processes.
Biological and Environmental Research. The Office
of Biological and Environmental Research supports
fundamental research in climate change, environmental
remediation, genomics, proteomics, radiation
biology, and medical sciences. The FY2004 budget
provides $59 million, an increase of $24 million
for the continued growth of the Genomes to Life
program, and $25 million, an increase of $22
million for the Climate Change Research Initiative.
The Genomes to Life program will develop new
knowledge about how organisms grow and function
and will marry this to a national infrastructure
in computational biology to build a fundamental
understanding of living systems. The thrust
of Genomes to Life is aimed directly at DOE
concerns: developing new sources of energy;
mitigating the long-term impacts of climate
change through carbon sequestration; cleaning
up the environment; and protecting people from
adverse effects of exposure to environmental
toxins and radiation.
The Climate Change Research Initiative will
extend research in climate modeling, atmospheric
composition and the regional impacts of climate
change. Under the integrative and strong leadership
of the Department of Commerce, our office has
concentrated on fundamental science to address
critical climate issues. Work on the carbon
cycle will investigate what fraction of carbon
dioxide emissions are taken up by terrestrial
ecosystems. Beginning in FY04, ecological research
efforts will begin to bridge the knowledge gap
between our understanding of molecular-level
effects and the responses of entire ecosystems.
Ultimately, this knowledge will enable us to
predict reliably how ecosystems will react to
changes in our environment.
In FY04 the Office of Biological and Environmental
Research will continue to explore new clean-up
strategies, including bioremediation and treatment
of radioactive wastes. The goals of the Environmental
Management Science Program, transferred in FY
2003 from Environmental Management, are to develop
and validate technical solutions to complex
problems, provide innovative technical solutions
where there are none, and lead to future risk
reduction and cost and time savings. The Environmental
Management Science Program request of approximately
$29 million in FY2004 will continue to support
these goals, but with increased focus on integrated,
multidisciplinary research to provide decision-makers
better information on which to base their decisions.
The budget request for the Office of Biological
and Environmental Research also provides continued
support for the Environmental Molecular Sciences
Laboratory, a facility that brings state-of-the-art
experimental and computational capabilities
to the environmental community to improve our
understanding of complex molecular interactions
in the environment and our ability to predict
contaminant behavior
Finally, the Office of Biological and Environment
Research will continue to take advantage of
the insights and expertise that result from
its work across many scientific disciplines-materials
science, biology, physics, and computation-to
provide the medical community with novel devices
to detect, diagnose, and treat disease.
High Energy Physics. The High Energy Physics
program supports almost 90 percent of U.S. research
in high energy physics that is coordinated with
the research of the National Science Foundation
high energy physics program through a jointly
chartered advisory committee, the High Energy
Physics Advisory Panel. This research has the
goal of developing a deeper understanding of
the basic nature of matter, space time and energy.
The FY2004 request will fund continued world
leadership in this research. We will continue
to pay very close attention to luminosity concerns
at the Tevatron and Fermi Laboratory will also
continue construction of the NuMI/MINOS experiment,
which is now on schedule and within budget,
following a rebaslineing exercise in 2002. The
B-Factory at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,
operating well above its design luminosity,
will also continue its program of research to
understand why there is a preponderance of matter
over antimatter, a critical question in the
evolution of the universe. As part of an increasing
emphasis on non-accelerator-based research projects,
funding will be increased for the Supernova
Acceleration Probe at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, a space-based experiment to explore
the nature of "Dark Energy," an unknown
force that is accelerating the expansion of
the universe.
Nuclear Physics. The Departments' nuclear physics
research program is the principal sponsor of
nuclear physics research in the U.S., providing
85% of Federal support, and is coordinated with
the research of the National Science Foundation's
nuclear physics program through a jointly chartered
advisory committee, the Nuclear Science Advisory
Committee. This research seeks a deeper understanding
of the properties of nuclear matter. For FY
2004, a primary focus of the program will be
to exploit the capabilities of the world's finest
experimental facilities for nuclear physics.
At the Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic
Heavy Ion Collider, researchers will continue
efforts to create and study the plasma of unconfined
quarks and gluons believed to have existed a
microsecond after the "Big Bang."
At the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator
Facility located at the Thomas Jefferson National
Accelerator Facility, high energy beams of electrons
will probe the internal structure of nucleons.
To optimize the utilization and scientific productivity
of these and other experimental facilities required
some difficult decisions. As a result, in a
decision informed by the priorities recommended
by the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, operation
of the 88-Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory will be terminated.
Recent results from neutrino physics experiments
have provided indications of new physics beyond
the Standard Model, and funding has been increased
to support non-accelerator-based experiments
such as the international collaborations at
the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, KamLand and
elsewhere for further investigation of these
results.
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists.
Formerly known as "Science Education"
and budgeted as a subprogram in the Science
Program Direction budget, this program will
continue the existing activities of the Science
Education program. It will also begin a pilot
program at Argonne National Laboratory, funded
at $1 million, to exploit the resources of the
national laboratories to provide professional
development for K-14 science and mathematics
teachers, who are the key to fostering interest
in mathematics and science among students. Teachers
will be competitively selected and matched with
laboratory mentors working in their field of
instruction. They will then spend 4-8 weeks
at a laboratory performing research mentored
by both laboratory scientists and "master
teachers" who can help them transfer the
laboratory research experience to the classroom.
This will be the first step in a continuing
relationship with the laboratory that will include
additional one week on-site mentoring sessions
and continuing communication. Intensive follow-up
and performance measures will be applied to
assess the results of this pilot.
This initiative, in response to the President's
call for a "qualified teacher in every
classroom," will bring some of the Nation's
finest scientific and technical resources to
bear on improving the quality of instruction
in science and mathematics to address a critical
national problem - developing a technically
trained and educated workforce for the 21st
century.
The Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
Overview. Over the last thirty years, nuclear
power has risen to become one of the most important
sources of electric energy in the United States
and at the same time, among the most operationally
economic. The benefits of nuclear power as a
clean, reliable and affordable source of energy
are a key to the economic and environmental
underpinnings of this Nation. A central mission
of the Department's nuclear program is to help
enhance the basic technology and, through some
of the most advanced civilian technology research
conducted today, chart a course to the next
leap in technology. In FY 2004, we are proposing
a $388 million investment in nuclear research
and development and for the Nation's nuclear
science, technology and education infrastructure,
a nearly twenty percent increase over last year's
request.
This budget request responds to the President's
priorities to deploy new generation capacity
to fortify U.S. energy independence and security
while making significant improvements in environmental
quality. It builds on the important work started
over the last two years to deploy new nuclear
plants in the U.S. by the end of the decade,
to develop advanced, next generation nuclear
technology, to strengthen our nation's nuclear
education infrastructure, and proposes exciting
new priorities -- a new Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative
to use high temperature nuclear energy systems
for clean hydrogen production as part of the
President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the
Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, research aimed
at developing proliferation-resistant fuel treatment
and fuel cycle technologies that can reduce
the volume and toxicity of commercial spent
nuclear fuel and maximize energy from nuclear
fuel.
Also, during FY 2002, the Department proceeded
to implement the President's Management Agenda,
including a major reorganization to better reflect
the Administration's priorities, improve overall
management and reduce the number of primary
organizational units from eight to three. To
assure overall accountability, PMA performance
measures were cascaded from the Director, through
the management to the staff. High emphasis has
also been placed on development of meaningful
R&D investment criteria and their application
to the nuclear research initiatives. The nuclear
program has successfully recruited and hired
new junior professional staff and is working
to put to new senior management team in place
at the Idaho Operations Office, who will oversee
nuclear R&D at INEEL as well as completion
of the cleanup mission.
Let me expand in more detail on the Department's
nuclear energy initiatives, and the linkages
of these initiatives among one another.
Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. Of the issues
affecting future expansion of nuclear energy
in the U.S. and worldwide, none is more important
or more difficult than that of dealing effectively
with spent nuclear fuel. After a long and difficult
process, the country is moving forward with
a geologic repository, and we are on schedule
to submit a license application to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission by the end of 2004.
With these successes, we are able to pursue
research that can optimize the use of the first
repository and possibly reduce the need for
future repositories. For years, countries around
the world have pursued advanced technologies
that could treat and transmute spent nuclear
fuel. For the last three years, the U.S. has
been a participant in this research. As one
of the Secretary's capstones, the FY 2004 budget
request proposes an aggressive research and
demonstration program, the Advanced Fuel Cycle
Initiative, with an investment of $63 million
in FY 2004 to continue exploring advanced, proliferation-resistant
nuclear fuel treatment and transmutation technologies
that can reduce volume and toxicity of spent
nuclear fuel for a geologic repository. If successful,
these same technologies offer benefits of enhancing
national security by reducing inventories of
commercially-generated plutonium and enhancing
energy independence by recovering the energy
value contained in spent nuclear fuel.
The Department is proposing a research program
leading to a demonstration of proliferation-resistant
fuel treatment technology to reduce the volume
of high level waste, and development of advanced
fuels in the 2015 time frame that could enable
consumption of plutonium using existing light
water reactors or advanced gas reactors. With
the President's request, the Department will
continue work toward demonstration of proliferation-resistant
fuel treatment technology and continue design
of transmutation fuels for future use with current
reactor technologies.
However, for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
to be successful, advanced fuel treatment and
transmutation research and development must
be integrated with the development of Generation
IV nuclear energy systems, particularly with
those reactor technologies that can produce
very high energy neutrons that would be needed
to transmute a wide variety of toxic radioactive
species. To support this goal, the Advanced
Fuel Cycle Initiative will develop the advanced
proliferation resistant fuels and fuel cycle
systems for Generation IV reactors.
Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems. Two years
ago, we launched the Generation IV program to
develop advanced reactor technologies for commercial
deployment after 2010 but before 2030. These
advanced reactors offer significant advances
in sustainability, proliferation-resistance,
physical protection, safety and economics. Development
of these reactors is being pursued by the Generation
IV International Forum, a group of ten leading
nuclear nations (United Kingdom, Argentina,
Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Republic of Korea,
Republic of South Africa, Switzerland, and the
United States), who last year selected six promising
technologies for joint research, development,
and demonstration. While the Department has
not yet decided upon which of these technologies
it will eventually focus, all of the technologies
are of considerable interest. The six innovative,
next-generation technologies include two gas-cooled
reactors, one water-cooled, two liquid-metal-cooled
reactors, and a molten salt-based reactor concept.
Key research objectives for these technologies
will include such activities as demonstrating
advanced fuels and materials. The goal of the
initiative is to resolve the fundamental research
and development issues necessary to establish
the viability of these concepts. By successfully
addressing the fundamental research and development
issues, the concepts are highly likely to attract
future private sector sponsorship and ultimate
commercialization. In FY 2003 and FY 2004, the
Department will establish international partnering
agreements to guide joint research and begin
research and development on several of the reactor
concepts, including very high temperature reactors
that would be suitable for efficient production
of hydrogen.
Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative. Generation IV is
closely linked to our new Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative,
aimed at demonstrating economic commercial-scale
production of hydrogen using nuclear power no
later than 2015. The use of hydrogen using high
temperature advanced reactors such as advanced
gas-cooled or liquid metal-cooled reactors can
provide the heat necessary for the process.
These technologies offer the potential for large-scale,
emission-free, hydrogen production capability
needed to fuel a hydrogen economy. Today, through
electrolysis, we can convert water to hydrogen
using electricity but we believe that for the
future, high temperature nuclear energy systems
coupled with thermo-chemical water splitting
processes offer a more efficient technology
for production of large quantities of hydrogen,
without release of greenhouse gases.
The hydrogen initiative grew out of the success
of our Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, in
particular, two investigator-initiated projects
that identified a number of advanced reactor
concepts capable of producing large quantities
of hydrogen with high efficiency and low cost.
Since then, we have awarded an additional three
projects and the International component of
the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative has awarded
one research project studying nuclear production
of hydrogen. The Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative
builds on the research from the Nuclear Energy
Research Initiative and International Nuclear
Research Initiative to demonstrate the ability
to use nuclear to produce hydrogen with high
efficiency and low cost. In FY 2004, we propose
to invest $4 million to begin this initiative
by developing a Nuclear Hydrogen Technology
Roadmap and to conduct laboratory-scale demonstration
of some of the key processes involved in nuclear
hydrogen production.
Nuclear Power 2010. The President's budget supports
continuation of Nuclear Power 2010 in FY 2004
to demonstrate, in cost-shared cooperation with
industry, key regulatory processes associated
with licensing new nuclear plants in the U.S.
In FY 2004, the requested funds would support
the activities associated with submitting and
achieving NRC approval of early site permits
and development of Combined Construction and
Operating License applications.
Most, if not all, of our research initiatives
involve participation by U.S. universities.
The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, for example,
proposes to resume a fellowship program aimed
at attracting graduate and doctoral students
to the discipline of transmutation science.
Other programs, like the Nuclear Energy Research
Initiative, sponsor research conducted in large
part by universities as well as national laboratories
and the private sector.
University Reactor Fuel Assistance and Support.
For years, the Energy Department has sponsored
an initiative that supports nuclear science
and technology educational infrastructure through
our University Reactor Fuel Assistance and Support
initiative. The need for trained and qualified
nuclear scientists has not diminished over the
years, and in fact, because of increasing retirements
in the nuclear field, demand today exceeds supply.
We are very pleased that the President's budget
includes $18.5 million for this program for
fellowships, scholarships, nuclear engineering
research, and for critical support to university
research reactors. In FY 2002, the Department
launched the Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure
and Education program, encouraging universities
to form ground-breaking partnerships with national
labs, the private sector, and other universities
to strengthen nuclear engineering education
and optimize the use of research reactors. In
FY 2002, DOE issued awards to four consortia
of universities and their partners. With an
additional $1 million requested in FY 2004,
we hope to support additional awards.
INEEL -- DOE's Command Center for Nuclear R&D.
Finally, this budget supports the Secretary's
realignment of the mission of the Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to
focus the future of the site on nuclear research
and development. As the Department's leading
center of nuclear research and development,
this laboratory is the "command center"
for our efforts to develop advanced reactor
and fuel cycle technologies, including development
of space nuclear power and propulsion technologies.
While the nuclear energy program involves the
collective talents of universities, the private
sector, international partners, and our national
laboratories -- Argonne, Los Alamos, Sandia,
and Oak Ridge among them -- the rebuilding of
the Departments' nuclear program that is underway
today for our Nation's long-term energy security
will not possible without the dedicated scientists,
engineers and supporting staff of the Idaho
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
Clearly, environmental cleanup will remain a
major focus of the Department for the near-term
but real progress is being made that will clear
the way for expansion of nuclear research and
development. With this year's budget, $110 million
has been transferred from the environmental
cleanup program to the Department's nuclear
program to manage laboratory infrastructure
and security.
The Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Overview. The overall FY2004 budget for the
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
is $1.320 billion, compared to $1.319 billion
requested in FY2003. The request reflects support
to carry out National Energy Policy recommendations,
the Department's mission, program priorities,
and the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Strategic Program Review recommendations.
The FY 2004 Budget also reflects the new organization
within the office. Two years ago, the Office
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy was
divided into 31 programs, in 17 offices, stove
piped into 5 market sectors. There were multiple
overlapping layers of management; and duplicative
and inconsistent business systems that generated
significant inefficiencies and made it difficult
to ensure accountability.
In response to the President's Management Agenda,
we launched a dramatic restructuring of the
program in April 2002. This restructuring eliminated
the five market sectors and 17 offices, streamlined
31 programs into 11, eliminated up to four management
levels, and centralized administration functions
into a single support organization with a focus
on developing consistent, uniform, and efficient
business practices. This is the most dramatic
restructuring of the Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy in at least a dozen years
and arguably in its history.
The restructuring combined all the hydrogen
and fuel cell activities, formerly scattered
across two market sectors and three programs,
into a single program for greater efficiency.
The restructuring also combined all the bioenergy-related
activities, formerly scattered across three
market sectors and three programs, into a single
program focused on advanced biorefineries.
The FY 2004 budget is fully aligned with the
new management structure and strategic goals
and together they will provide greater synergy
and increased efficiency and productivity in
research and development and deployment activities.
Research and development and technology deployment
efforts supported by the FY 2004 budget will
provide Americans with greater freedom of choice
of technology, while providing increased energy
security, and reducing financial costs and impacts
on the environment.
The FY 2004 budget has been developed with these
challenges and opportunities in mind.
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The big news in the
FY 2004 budget is, of course, the President's
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The President's Initiative
directly supports EERE's number one priority
to dramatically reduce or even end dependence
on foreign oil.
America currently depends on foreign sources
for 60 percent of its oil - a dependence that
is projected to rise to 70 percent by 2025.
Since two thirds of the oil we consume is used
for transportation, we must focus on alternative
means of fueling transportation from domestic
resources if we ever expect to reverse this
trend.
In his recent State-of-the-Union address, President
Bush announced a new research and development
initiative focused on hydrogen that, in conjunction
with FreedomCAR launched last year, will help
reverse America's growing dependence on foreign
oil and expand the availability of clean, abundant
energy.
The President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative will
accelerate research and development on hydrogen
production, delivery, storage and distribution,
and establish the necessary safety-related codes
and technology standards. The initiative also
will fund limited "learning" demonstrations
of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure
so that these technologies can be validated
under real world conditions. When the President's
vision of a child born today driving a hydrogen
fuel cell vehicle is achieved, hydrogen fuel
cells also could power our Nation's homes, schools
and businesses.
The hydrogen needed to fuel these vehicles and
stationary power sources is domestically available
in abundant quantities as a component of natural
gas, coal, biomass and even water through electrolysis
using renewable or nuclear power. In the future,
we may well also look to fusion energy to power
a hydrogen economy. The challenge is to economically
produce, deliver, store and distribute hydrogen
for use as a consumer fuel in a cost-effective
and environmentally-sound way, and to engage
the broader oil, energy and power companies
in this effort.
To support the President's vision we need to
make the necessary research and development
investments to develop vehicles powered by hydrogen
fuel cells and the infrastructure to support
them. The government role will be to fund and
coordinate the high-risk R&D work of numerous
private sector partners and our national network
of science laboratories. Government coordination
of this undertaking will help resolve one of
the difficulties associated with development
of a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell
vehicle: the "chicken and egg" question.
Which comes first, the fuel cell vehicle or
the hydrogen production and delivery refueling
infrastructure to support it? The President's
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, in conjunction with
the FreedomCAR partnership, answers the question
by proposing to develop both in parallel; that
is, to augment the already significant investment
in vehicle technologies with new investments
in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. By so
doing Federal investments can help to advance
commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
and infrastructure by 15 years, from 2035 to
2020.
To meet this challenge, the President's FY 2004
budget commits $1.2 billion for hydrogen and
fuel cells over five years ($720 million in
new money); including in FY2004 $181 million
for the DOE (mostly EERE) and 0.7 million for
the Department of Transportation.
The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative enhances and complements
the FreedomCAR partnership announced last year.
FreedomCAR is a public-private partnership with
U.S. automakers to accelerate the development
of practical, affordable hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles. The funding request for the Hydrogen
Fuel Initiative and FreedomCAR combined will
total $1.7 billion over five years.
The funding request for the vehicle technologies
program under the FreedomCAR umbrella increases
from $74.4 million in our FY 2003 budget to
$91.1 million in FY 2004. This will increase
the research and development emphasis on battery
and materials technologies critical for fuel
cell and combustion hybrid vehicles over five
years; in FY2004, the total DOE FreedomCAR and
Fuel request is $272.1 million.
The funding request for the Fuel Cell Technology
Program - which includes the development of
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell technology
in support of this initiative - increases from
$57.5 million in our FY 2003 budget to $77.5
million in FY 2004. This increase will support,
as noted above, a limited "learning"
demonstration project for fuel cell vehicles
and hydrogen infrastructure (with hydrogen sub-program)
to integrate and validate component technologies;
and an increase for fuel cell component research
and development to reduce fuel cell cost.
The funding request for the Hydrogen Technology
Program increases from $39.9 million in our
FY2003 budget to $88.0 million in FY 2004 (plus
$15.5 million in the Fossil Energy and Nuclear
Energy programs, for a total of $103.5 million).
This will be used to establish a national research
effort on hydrogen storage; enhancing technology
development for hydrogen production from renewables
and distributed natural gas; accelerate codes
and standards development; create a major hydrogen
education effort; and validate hydrogen infrastructure
technologies to support fuel cell vehicle test
and evaluation.
These efforts support the President's Initiative,
and will enable the development of hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles for the showroom floor by
2020. Success of these programs will begin to
eliminate the need for imported oil, while simultaneously
reducing emissions and greenhouse gases from
America's transportation fleet without affecting
the freedom of personal mobility we demand.
Efficient Lighting Systems. The FY 2004 budget
also will expand our research and development
in Solid State Lighting, which represents a
promising new approach to efficient lighting
systems.
The lighting used in our homes and offices today
is in many ways similar to the vacuum tubes
that preceded solid state electronics. This
comparatively inefficient lighting consumes
about 7 quadrillion British thermal units of
the Nation's energy each year and contributes
to the peak energy demands that strain our electricity
infrastructure. Advancing the technology and
lowering the cost of organic and inorganic light
emitting diodes will lead to more efficient,
flexible and functional lighting technology
in the future.
For FY 2004, we are proposing a $5 million investment
to expand our Solid State Lighting research
activities. Our Solid State Lighting research
will create the technical foundation to revolutionize
the energy efficiency, appearance, visual comfort,
and quality of lighting products.
These efforts support the President's Initiative,
and will enable the development of hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles for the showroom floor by
2020. Success of these programs will begin to
eliminate the need for imported oil, while simultaneously
reducing emissions and greenhouse gases from
America's transportation fleet without affecting
the freedom of personal mobility we demand.
The Office of Fossil Energy
Overview. The Fossil Energy program is being
realigned to focus virtually exclusively on
supporting three of the President's top energy
and environmental initiatives: Clear Skies,
Climate Change, and Energy Security.
To be included in the FY 2004 budget, Fossil
Energy programs must either (1) support the
development of lower cost, more effective pollution
control technologies or help diversify the nation's
future sources of clean-burning natural gas
to meet the President's Clear Skies goals; (2)
expand the nation's technological options for
reducing greenhouse gases either by increasing
power plant efficiencies or by capturing and
isolating these gases from the atmosphere; or
(3) measurably add to the nation's energy security
by providing a short-term emergency response
(e.g., Strategic Petroleum Reserve) or a longer-term
alternative to imported oil (e.g., hydrogen
and methane hydrates).
The President's Coal Research Initiative. The
President's Coal Research Initiative accounts
for $320.5 million of the Fossil Energy research
and development budget request. Since our budget
testimony last year, the Department has made
significant progress in implementing the initial
stage of the President's $2 billion, 10-year
commitment to a new generation of environmentally-clean
coal technologies.
Our "first round" solicitation in
the Clean Coal Power Initiative - a key piece
of the President's clean coal commitment - attracted
three dozen proposals for projects totaling
more than $5 billion. On January 15, 2003, we
announced the first winners of this competition
- eight projects with a total value of more
than $1.3 billion, more than one billion dollars
of which would be provided by the private sector.
In FY 2004, we are requesting $130 million for
the Clean Coal Power Initiative to fund joint
government-industry research projects on new
technologies that can enhance the reliability,
efficiency, and environmental performance of
coal-fired power generators.
To ensure that even more effective pollution
controls continue to emerge in support of the
President's Clear Skies Initiative, we are requesting
$22.0 million for research into even cleaner
and more affordable environmental innovations
for existing plants.
Several of the recently-selected Clean Coal
projects also expand the menu of options for
meeting the President's Climate Change Initiative,
primarily by boosting the efficiencies of power
plants (meaning that less fuel is needed to
generate electricity with a corresponding reduction
in greenhouse gases). To position even more
advanced, high efficiency power generating concepts
for future development and testing, we are requesting
$64.0 million to continue research into integrated
gasification-combined cycle and a companion
effort in high-performance, multi-fuel-capable
turbines. A key aspect of these advanced power
concepts - which will make up key modules of
our "Vision 21" emission-free power
plant of the future - is that they emit carbon
dioxide in a way that makes the greenhouse gas
easier to capture.
Carbon management will become an increasingly
important element of our coal research program.
Carbon sequestration - the capture and permanent
storage of carbon dioxide - has emerged as one
of our highest priorities in the Fossil Energy
research program - a priority reflected in the
proposed budget increase to $62.0 million in
FY 2004 compared to an FY 2003 amended request
of $44.0 million.
Carbon sequestration, if it can be proven practical,
safe, and affordable, can dramatically enhance
our long-term response to climate change concerns.
It could offer the United States and other nations
the option to reduce greenhouse gases that would
not necessitate potentially disruptive and economically
harmful changes in the way we produce, deliver,
or use energy.
Beginning in FY 2004, one of the cornerstones
of our carbon sequestration program will be
a national network of regional partnerships.
This Secretarial initiative will bring together
the federal government, state agencies, universities,
and private industry to begin determining which
options for capturing and storing greenhouse
gases are most practicable for specific areas
of the country. We hope to start about four
of these partnerships in FY 2004.
Among the research pathways we are pursuing
in support of the Administration's Hydrogen
Fuel Initiative will be innovative approaches
for producing carbon-free hydrogen from coal
by integrating coal-based hydrogen production
technologies with permanent, stable carbon storage.
Coal is a very attractive source of hydrogen
through the coal gasification process. We have
allocated $5.0 million for research into new
methods for making hydrogen from coal.
To provide fundamental scientific knowledge
that benefits all of our coal technology efforts,
our FY 2004 budget also includes $37.5 million
for advanced research in such areas as materials,
coal utilization science, analytical efforts,
and support for coal research at universities
(including historically black and other minority
institutions).
Other Power Systems Research and Development.
We are also proposing $47 million for continued
development of fuel cells with an emphasis on
lower-cost technologies that can contribute
to both Clear Skies emission reductions, particularly
in distributed generation applications, and
Climate Change goals by providing an ultra-high
efficiency electricity generating component
for tomorrow's power plants. Distributed power
systems, such as fuel cells, also can contribute
to the overall reliability of electricity supplies
in the United States and help strengthen the
security of our energy infrastructure.
Natural Gas Research. In response to the President's
Clear Skies Initiative, the department is requesting
$26.6 million for natural gas research. This
clean-burning fuel will be integral to achieving
the goals of Clear Skies.
Our natural gas research program, therefore,
is directed primarily at research and development
that can improve our utilization of this resource
and provide sound science for policy decision-making.
A particularly important aspect of this research
will be to develop innovative ways to recover
this resource from other sources such as hydrates,
and to use natural gas to produce hydrogen.
The most significant new initiative in our Natural
Gas Research program is the work we are proposing
in hydrogen as part of the President's Hydrogen
Fuel Initiative. We are requesting $6.5 million
to study innovative methods to produce hydrogen
from natural gas. We will ask industry, academia,
and our national laboratories to submit new
ideas on hydrogen production and related research.
Since the byproduct of gas-to-hydrogen processes
will likely be carbon dioxide, this effort will
also include research on carbon capture and
sequestration. This work will be closely coordinated
with other efforts in the Office of Fossil Energy
to capture and sequester carbon dioxide.
Over the long-term, the production of natural
gas from hydrates could have major energy security
implications. Hydrates - gas-bearing, ice-like
formations in Alaska and offshore - contain
more energy than all other fossil energy resources.
The ability to develop hydrates as a natural
gas source would be able to provide all our
natural gas needs. Understanding hydrates can
also improve our knowledge of the science of
greenhouse gases and possible offer future mechanisms
for sequestering carbon dioxide. For these reasons,
we are maintaining a research program to study
gas hydrates with a proposed funding level of
$3.5 million.
Natural gas storage and transportation will
also assume increasing significance in the United
States as more and more power plants require
consistent, year-round supplies of natural gas.
Toward this end, we will initiate a nationwide,
industry-led consortium that will examine ways
to improve the reliability and efficiency of
our nation's gas storage system and explore
opportunities for liquid natural gas facility
siting. We recognize that it has been decades
since liquid natural gas has been a significant
natural gas supply option. Through this new
program, we are working to integrate thirty
years of advances in technology, science and
policy to secure the reliability of liquid natural
gas storage and transport.
Oil Technology Development. The President's
National Energy Policy calls attention to the
continued need to strengthen our nation's energy
security by promoting enhanced oil (and gas)
recovery and improving oil (and gas) exploration
technology through continued partnerships with
public and private entities.
We also recognize that the federal oil technology
research and development program must be more
focused in order to achieve results and accomplish
Presidential and departmental goals. Consequently,
our FY 2004 budget request of $15.0 million
reflects a reorientation of the program toward
those areas where there is clearly a national
benefit and the ability to contribute to the
climate change and energy security goals.
The research and development activities directed
towards the use of carbon dioxide injection
to enhance the recovery of oil from existing
fields will help achieve our climate change
goals through an effective carbon sequestration
method. Carbon dioxide injection is a proven
enhanced oil recovery practice that prolongs
the life of some mature fields, and the private
sector has not applied this technique to its
fullest potential due to insufficient supplies
of economical carbon dioxide. A key component
of carbon sequestration to be carried out in
our proposed FY 2004 program will be to facilitate
the greater use of this process by integrating
it with carbon dioxide-captured and delivered
from fossil fuel power plants.
We will also refocus much of our Oil Technology
program on a new Domestic Resource Conservation
effort that will target partnerships with industry
and universities to sustain access to marginal
wells and reservoirs. These aging fields account
for 40 percent of our domestic production, yet
contain billions of barrels of oil that might
still be recovered with ever-improving technology.
A high priority effort in FY 2004 will be to
develop "micro-hole" technology. Rather
than developing just another new drilling tool,
the federal program will integrate "smart"
drilling systems, advanced imaging, and enhanced
recovery technologies into a complete exploration
and production system. Micro-hole systems may
offer one of our best opportunities for keeping
marginal fields active because the smaller-diameter
wells can significantly reduce exploration costs
and make new drilling between existing wells
("infill" drilling) more affordable.
This will enable us to maintain a consistent
base of domestic oil production.
Other Fossil Energy R&D. Our budget request
also includes $124.3million for other activities
in our Fossil Energy program, including $92.8
million for headquarters and field office salaries,
$3.0 million for plant and capital improvements,
$9.8 million for environmental restoration,
$6 million for federal matching funds for cooperative
research and development projects at the University
of North Dakota and the Western Research Institute,
$2.8million for electricity and natural gas
import/export responsibilities, and $10 million
for advanced metallurgical research at our Albany
Research Center. The increase in funding at
the Albany Center (up from $5 million in FY
2003) reflects the Center's growing role in
developing better materials for fuel cells and
in studying new mineral carbonation concepts
for carbon sequestration.
Conclusion
As the Committee is well aware, this testimony
has not covered the enormous contributions science
in our National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) is making to the DOE mission. From material
research to high-performance computing, NNSA
science is integrated into the full range of
activities within my area of responsibility.
Mr. Chairman, I believe the Department's FY2004
budget submission meets the Nation's critical
needs for energy, environmental and national
security at a difficult time in our history.
The committee has a central role in shaping
the future of science and technology in the
United States. The Department of Energy, which
Secretary Abraham has said might well be called
the Department of Energy and Science, hopes
to join the members of the committee in working
to strengthen American science.
|
