Bush admin to spend $333 million on clean energy
Date: 06-Mar-02
Country: USA
The Department of Energy (DOE) released $330 million of $2 billion in funding budgeted over the next 10 years to encourage utilities to develop new clean coal technology.
"Today's solicitation tells industry we are ready to help share the costs and risk of technologies that have emerged in the last 10 years," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a statement.
Coal and nuclear power are both key components of President George W. Bush's national energy policy, which aims to meet rising U.S. demand while reducing dependence on foreign sources like Iraq.
Separately, DOE earmarked $3 million in the 2002 fiscal year to streamline applications to build new nuclear power plants.
The administration hopes to encourage utilities to build plants that are cleaner than their present-day counterparts.
Nuclear plants, which provide about 20 percent of the nation's electricity, generate no harmful air emissions like carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide.
At the same time, new devices could strip noxious substances from smoke spewed by coal-burning plants and open the door for new construction of a source that now accounts for about half of U.S. supply.
The DOE said the coal industry has until August 1, 2002, to design new technology that reduces air emissions and greenhouse gases emitted from older power plants that use high sulfur or "dirty" forms of coal.
"Without our support, those technologies would likely remain in the laboratory," Abraham said.
Bush last month unveiled a plan to reduce carbon emissions from gasoline, coal and other fossil fuels through improved technology while keeping energy costs affordable.
Separately, the DOE unveiled a new plan to match individual utility investments up to $48.5 million over the next two years to license new sites for nuclear power plants with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"This is a critical step in paving the way for deploying more nuclear power in the United States," Abraham said.
The DOE set a deadline of April 15 for industry proposals for U.S. utilities to begin a 30-month early site permitting process.
Two unnamed "major nuclear utilities" are considering sites in Idaho, South Carolina and Ohio to build new nuclear plants, the DOE said.