Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
5/22/2015
Senate appropriators approved their version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill this week, providing an increase of $39 million above the Obama Administration’s request for the Department of Energy’s fossil energy research and development program. The bill, which would fund fossil energy R&D at $610 million, moved quickly through subcommittee and full committee this week. The Senate bill is similar to the version approved by the House earlier this month, which would provide $605 million for DOE’s fossil energy R&D programs. “The committee notes that clean coal technologies afford our Nation the ability to respond to environmental challenges by improving the performance of our coal-based electricity fleet, while also allowing for continued utilization of abundant and affordable US coal,” Senate appropriators wrote in the report released alongside their version of the energy spending bill this week.
The Senate version of the bill would fund the DOE Office of Fossil Energy’s CCS and power systems programs at $402 million, $32.6 million more than the Department’s request, but $22 million less than the House version of the bill. Within that allocation, $88 million is earmarked for carbon capture, $29 million less than the request. The bill would provide $99 million for carbon storage, $9.8 million less than the request. Advanced energy systems would be funded at $103 million, an increase of $63.6 million from the request. While the House version of the bill kept funding for the National Energy Technology Laboratory flat from FY15, the Senate version increases funding $3 million to $53 million, $19 million more than the request.
