Congress Scientific Group further stimulates energy research

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Last month, the Biden administration offered to increase the budget for the Department of Energy.‘s (DO‘(s) the basic research wing, the Office of Science, from 5.7% to $ 7.4 billion by fiscal year 2022. Members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology estimate that the The agency, the largest physical science funder in the United States, needs a lot more. And tomorrow, the panel will unveil a bipartisan bill that would allow spending $ 8.7 billion next year, and nearly $ 11 billion by 2026.

“Office of Science receives $ 400 million increase in [current] levels, which would allow us to support all of the key areas covered by the office, from quantum technology to biology, ”Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the committee today during her testimony on the global demand of the president for research 2022 at the department. The proposed increase stands in stark contrast to the budgets proposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump, which has repeatedly sought, unsuccessfully, to suppress the Office of Science.‘s budget up to 19%.

However, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D – TX), who chairs the House Science Committee, questioned whether the proposed momentum would be enough to allow the office to move forward with the programs and projects it needs. ‘it has already started, such as the American contribution to ITER, the huge international fusion reactor under construction in the south of France. The Bureau of Science is America’s leading manufacturer of large scientific machines, such as atom crushers, X-ray synchrotrons, and neutron sources. DOE officials have built or started most of the large facilities that the Office of Science created in 2003 as part of a 20-year plan for American energy research

“I am disappointed with the level of increase as it is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the current needs of these national facilities, research programs and laboratories,” Johnson said. He warned that the proposed budget could lead to cuts in research programs. o retrasos y aumentos concomitantes en los costos de los grandes proyectos de construcción. per year.

Johnson questioned whether the slightly smaller increase proposed by the Biden administration showed a “lack of respect and appreciation ”by the Office of Science. “Absolutely not, ”replied Granholm. She noticed that Biden‘The budget requested for the DOE is the largest to date and if Congress approves the administration‘s American employment plan “billions of dollars more would go to the “DOE‘s 17 national laboratories. “Believe me, this administration is fully committed to funding scientific research, ”he said.

Most of the questions asked by lawmakers at today’s hearing focused on clean energy technologies – electric cars, biofuels, wind power – rather than basic research. However, representative Bill Foster (D – IL), who previously worked as a particle physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), encouraged Granholm “deepen with new major investments in the type of large facilities and scientific initiatives that [DOE] is in a unique position to propose, direct and execute. “Foster worked at Fermilab‘The famous atom breaker, the Tevatron, which closed in 2011 and left the lab in the early 2000s after the DOE canceled another accelerator it was helping design.

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