Senate Stimulus-Green Recovery, Part 2: Energy

by Emily Gertz

Published February 07, 2009 @ 07:54PM PT

UPDATE, Feb. 9, 6:20 pm PT: I've edited this post to compare allocations in the Senate compromise bill with those from the House bill. [House amounts in brackets.]

Seriously fighting global warming involves transforming so many different aspects of how we live -- from taking care of infrastructure (so we don't have to use new energy and materials to rebuild it), to improving the nation's capacity to do basic scientific research.

So in reading through the appropriations in the Senate version of the Obama administration's economic stimulus package, many items jumped out at me in the broad context of stopping climate change -- and I'm posting them here.

Part 1: Infrastructure

Part 2: Energy
Overall, $39 billion to the Department of Energy for clean energy development.

Some specific energy allocations:

• $2 billion [$0] to FutureGen (coal plant carbon sequestration experimental project]
• $2.9 billion [$6.2 billion] for the Weatherization Assistance Program
  
  • $0 [$300 million] to assist middle income families
• $2.6 billion [$2.4 billion] for energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration and deployment activities to accelerate the development of technologies towards diversification of the energy supply. Activities will include biofuels, geothermal, water, wind, solar, and efficiency projects.
• $4.7 billion [$6.9 billion] for state and local government energy grants
• $200 million [$200 million] in grants to states to plan and deploy electrical infrastructure projects that encourage the use of plug-in electric drive vehicles, and for near term large-scale electrification projects aimed at the transportation sector, including seaports.
• $2 billion [$2 billion] in grants for manufacture of advanced batteries systems and components and vehicle batteries (towards lowering dependence on oil for vehicles), including advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers
• $350 million [$400 million] in grants administered through the DOE's Clean Cities program, for acquisition and alternative fuel or fuel-cell vehicles.
• $1.6 billion [$1 billion]  in grants to make schools and hospitals more energy efficient; $500,000 in direct loans.
• $2.648 billion [$2.5 billion] for renewable energy development through the Dept. of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program [EERE]
• $330 million [$0] for Department of Energy laboratory construction
• $0 [$400 million] for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
• $7 billion [$6 billion] for renewable energy loan guarantees
• $6.5 billion [$6.5 billion] of increased borrowing authority to the Bonneville and Western Area Power Administrations ($3.25 billion each -- both are considered "critical" to bringing large sources of renewable energy onto the national grid) to put towards construction of new transmission, and upgrading electric power transmission lines and related facilities necessary to deliver power generated by renewable energy resources
• $4.4 billion [$4.4 billion] for smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability, perform energy storage research, development, demonstration and deployment, and provide worker training.
• $2.2 billion [$2.2 billion] in transmission loan guarantees
• $300 million [$600 million] to replace older motor vehicles owned by the Federal Government with alternative fuel automobiles that will save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions
• $2.5 billion towards greening buildings: repair of federal buildings to increase energy efficiency. (There's currently a backlog of an estimated $8.4 billion in building repair projects.)
• Transmission systems:  
• $613 million for energy efficiency upgrades and construction of alternative energy projects, including wind and solar power and photovoltaic roof systems, at Department of Defense facilities. (Defense is the largest consumer of energy in the Federal government.) Projects include:
• $118.5 million for energy conservation projects, energy upgrades, and construction of alternative energy projects such as wind power and photovoltaic systems at military installations Department-wide.
• $494.4 million for Navy energy efficiency upgrades and construction of alternative energy projects, including wind and solar power and photovoltaic system installation.

• $400 million for rural business initiatives including development of renewable energy:
• $200 million [$0] for loans and grants towards development of advanced biofuels.
• $50 million [$0] for loans and grants to the Rural Energy for America Program, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy development for agricultural producers and rural small businesses.