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At Platts Energy Podium, DOE Official Unveils $3 Billion in Bush Energy Plans

2007-02-02 09:06 1032

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Platts -- President Bush will ask Congress to provide $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2008 for his Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) in hopes of addressing human impacts on the climate and will seek $405 million for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell said Thursday at a Platts Energy Podium in Washington, D.C.

In a preview of energy budget proposals Bush will make on Monday (February 5) when he sends his new budget to Capitol Hill, Sell said the GNEP program would advance nuclear fuel recycling technology in an effort to prevent nuclear proliferation. The administration asked for $250 million in FY-07, but would get only $120 million in a spending bill currently being considered by Congress.

Sell said advancing the program also will help address global climate change concerns. "No rational individual who wants to address global warming policy can acknowledge anything other than nuclear power is going to have to play a significant role," he said.

The AEI budget request represents a $500-million increase over the administration’s FY-07 proposal, and would help "meet the president’s goal of reducing use of gasoline by 20% in the next decade," Sell said. Bush said in his January 16 State of the Union address that he wants to curb U.S. gasoline consumption 20% by 2017 by promoting biofuels and increasing automobile fuel economy.

Among other budget initiatives for FY-08, the White House will seek $9 billion in authority for loan guarantees for advanced energy technologies, Sell said. With $4 billion in authority proposed under an FY-07 bill pending in Congress, DOE could potentially provide as much as $13 billion in financial backing for projects exploring new approaches to biofuel production, coal combustion, carbon sequestration, nuclear energy and electricity transmission.

DOE would start issuing the guarantees "as early as this fall," Sell said.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Sponsored by Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Platts Energy Podium provides an ongoing forum for prominent newsmakers and the press to address important energy and environmental issues. Credentialed members of the media may receive complementary registration for Energy Podium events by contacting Nancy Covey at 202-942-8719, Nancy_Covey@platts.com. A recording of the Sell session is available via podcast at http://www.energypodium.platts.com .

Source: Platts
Keywords: Oil/Energy
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