The California Institute for Federal Policy Research

Quick Look: President Bush's FY 2009 Budget: Dept. of Energy -- Feb. 4 2008

The California Institute prepares a quick analysis of the President's budget request on the day it is released.  For the FY 2009 Budget, the budget was released the morning of February 4, 2008.  The following represents an examination of this portion of the budget from a California perspective.  For analysis of other components visit our 2009 Budget page.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The Budget includes a total of $25 billion in discretionary authority for the Department of Energy for fiscal year 2009, an increase over the $23.8 billion estimated for FY08. Of that spending, $9.097 billion (an increase from the $8.8 billion estimated for FY08) would be provided to the National Nuclear Security Administration, which stewards the nation’s nuclear stockpile and includes the federal energy laboratories.

Funding for hydrogen technology will decrease from $211 million in FY08 to $146 million in FY09 estimated funding, and solar energy funding will drop from $168 million to $156 million. Weatherization and intergovernment activities would drop from $285 million to $59 million.

DOE Office of Science

For science programs at DOE, the budget proposes some increases, which would benefit California. High Energy Physics would grow from $689 million to $807 million, nuclear physics from $432 million to $510 million, advanced scientific computing research would rise from $351 million to $369 million, and basic energy sciences from $1.27 billion to $1.57 billion.

Fusion Energy Sciences

One of the most significant increases would be for fusion energy sciences, of which California continues to receive the lion’s share. The total fusion science spending would rise from $286.5 million in 2008 to $493 million in 2009, a proposed increase of 72 percent. The fusion energy sciences (FES) program is the national research effort to advance plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology that is the knowledge base needed for an economically and environmentally attractive energy source.

The budget notes: "The fusion energy sciences program advances plasma science, fusion science, and fusion technology in order to establish the knowledge base necessary for fusion to become an economically and environmentally attractive energy source." Within FES is $214 million for the U.S. contributions to ITER project, an international burning plasma physics experiment being built in France in collaboration with the European Union (EU), Japan, Russia, Korea, China, and India. The EU is providing approximately 45% of the cost of building the facility, while the remaining parties will each provide approximately 9%. The Budget states: "ITER is an essential next step toward eventually developing fusion as a commercially viable energy source."

The Budget also provides for continued funding for the DIII-D program, a fusion program under way at General Atomics in San Diego.

High Energy Physics

Language associated with the $807 million request for the High Energy Physics (HEP) program notes that: "HEP research also makes major contributions to accelerator technology and provides the expertise necessary for the expansion of such technology into fields such as medical imaging and diagnostics as well as materials, biology, and chemistry research using light sources. One notable recent example is the Linac Coherent Light Source, now completing construction at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC); the concept and proof-of-principle for this state-of-the- art basic energy sciences facility grew out of particle accelerator technology developed for the HEP program."

Budget language also notes: "The HEP budget request supports a world leadership program at Fermilab (the Tevatron Collider and Neutrinos at the Main Injector [NuMI]) and phase-out activities at the SLAC B-factory, which has completed its scientific mission."

Basic Energy Sciences

The $1.57 billion basic energy sciences (BES) request for FY09 funds basic research material sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and aspects of biosciences. The program supports a substantial basic research budget for materials sciences, chemical sciences, biosciences, and geosciences. Within this amount, the request includes $60 million for hydrogen and fuel cell research as part of the White House’s Hydrogen Initiative. It also includes funding for BES funding for the multi-agency national nanotechnology program, which funds the operation of the Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs) at the Oak Ridge, Lawrence Berkeley, Brookhaven, and Argonne national laboratories.

Elk Hills School Lands Fund

The Budget states: "Under the settlement agreement, $300 million has been paid to the State of California. There is no request for funding in FY 2009. The timing and levels of any future budget request are dependent on the schedule and results of the equity finalization process."

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