Energy Committee joins policy debate

Francis Dietz
ASME Government Relations

With energy policy one of the hottest issues in Washington, D.C., not to mention certain western states, the pieces are starting to fall into place for congressional consideration of major energy legislation later this summer or fall.

Several pieces of comprehensive legislation, along with a number of smaller bills, have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, while the White House has issued its long-awaited National Energy Policy Plan, and followed it up with a legislative package submitted to Capitol Hill in late June.

ASME, which has a significant number of members involved in all aspects of energy production, efficiency, conservation and end use, issued a general position paper on energy policy in March. Following up on that broad document, in June the Energy Committee of the Council on Engineering released a position statement, "U.S. Energy Research and Development Needs for the New Millennium."

The latest document, which has been distributed to all members of Congress, Department of Energy officials, and many Capitol Hill staff, offers research and development recommendations in many energy areas, ranging from fossil, nuclear and renewable energy to buildings, transportation, and advanced energy systems, such as fuel cells and high-temperature superconductivity.

The position statement complements a general position paper on energy policy that was approved by ASME's Board of Governors in March. Both documents can be found on the ASME Government Relations Web site at www.asme.org/gric/ps/ps01.html.

ASME's energy policy position statement contains hundred of recommendations. The major ones follow:

— Develop environmentally sensitive, technology-based solutions for the extraction and use of fossil fuels; develop technologies for minimizing emissions from fossil fuels and policies that encourage petroleum conservation measures.

— Develop technologies for more efficiently locating and characterizing oil reserves and for minimizing the environmental impacts resulting from their development.

— Research and develop advanced, high-temperature or lightweight, corrosion-resistant materials and intelligent, inexpensive sensors for energy equipment to improve efficiency and reliability and to reduce the costs of energy technologies.

— Support research into hybrid and combined-cycle power plants that partner fossil-fuel, nuclear and renewable energy systems to reduce emissions and conserve fossil fuels, and to develop advanced gas turbines and fuel cells for large-scale power generation and for smaller-scale distributed generation.

— Support R&D of fuel cells for crosscutting applications in buildings, transportation for rail and automotive applications, and for electrical power generation, using a wide range of generator sizes for distributed generation.

— Accelerate development, incentives and research for technologies to make wind, concentrating solar, hydroelectric, photovoltaics, geothermal, municipal solid waste-to-energy and biomass power more economically viable, and to encourage their use.

— Complete the high-level nuclear waste repository, demonstrate long-term technologies for monitoring and managing repository safety, and reevaluate the policy banning reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel with detailed consideration of the increases in efficiency available from recycling uranium and transuranic materials for maximum energy extraction. Accelerate R&D for the next generation of nuclear power plants.

— Develop advanced information technologies, analysis methods, and control models and systems to enable more effective and efficient management of energy resources and delivery of energy services.

— Research and develop cross-cutting technologies such as gasification for coal, biomass, and pulp-and-paper black liquor; reformers and membrane technologies for chemical production, gas separation and hydrogen production; and the development of power quality controls and interconnection equipment.

— Expand research into energy efficiency of buildings to develop advanced lighting sources; improved systems for desiccant, evaporative and mechanical cooling; building monitoring and control systems; and performance standards, diagnostics and certification.

— Establish fiscal, tax, regulatory and licensing policies that encourage investment in R&D for long-range solutions for the United States' energy needs and deployment of first-of-a-kind technologies. Expand current PV/wind/ biomass production tax credits to all renewable and advanced energy technologies, including hydroelectric power, and make their existence certain and stable for developers and financial institutions.

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