The House of Representatives’ fiscal 2017 energy and water spending bill, scheduled for full Appropriations Committee markup this morning, would increase funding for fossil energy research and development by $13 million from fiscal 2016. The House report released alongside the bill Monday morning emphasizes a need to continue to support fossil fuel energy generation and criticizes the administration for cutting funding for fossil fuel R&D in its budget request
“In 2012 the President unveiled an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy designed to take advantage and utilize all sources of American made energy. Since that time, each budget request has proposed increased funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the expense of more stable energy sources,” the report says.
The House bill funds fossil energy R&D at $645 million, $285 million above the administration’s request, which relied on $240 million in reallocated prior-year balances to fund the program at $600 million. “The Committee rejects this budgetary gimmick,” the report says.
That $240 million was to come from the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP) carbon capture and storage project. DOE proposed pulling the funding from the project due its inability to reach financial close. House and Senate appropriators denied this request.
The House version of the bill recommends a greater increase to the fossil energy program than the Senate version, which was reported out of committee last week. The Senate version also increased planned spending over the Obama administration’s budget proposal but kept funding flat at the fiscal 2016 level of $632 million. The Senate version is scheduled to reach the upper chamber’s floor this week.
The funding supports the Department of Energy’s research and development activities to increase knowledge related to technologies that can increase the efficiency and decrease the emissions of fossil energy production.
Within the House’s recommended $645 million budget, $442 million is allocated for coal CCS and advanced power systems programs, $12 million more than in the current budget and $70.3 million more than the request.
Carbon capture activities would be funded at $109.2 million, even with the request and $8.2 million more than provided in fiscal 2016 and. Carbon storage takes a hit in the bill with funding $20.5 million below the current level and $5.4 million less than the request.
Coal R&D at the National Energy Technology Laboratory would be funded even with its fiscal 2016 level at $53 million, an increase of $18 million above the DOE request.
The bill rejects the department’s proposed update to the fossil fuel R&D budget structure, which would have eliminated the distinction of natural gas and coal. Under the DOE’s proposed budget structure, funding would instead be lumped together so that, for example, funding for carbon capture activities could be used for capture from coal or natural gas activities. The committee report does not give a reason for the rejection. The Senate also rejected the request
Natural gas carbon capture, which would have been lumped in with coal under the department’s proposed new structure, receives no funding in either version of the bill.
