The research and development (R&D) portfolio is designed to ensure the ability to use abundant domestic fossil resources through the development of technologies with a specific focus on significant reductions of global carbon emissions at acceptable cost. Fossil Energy R&D will also address concerns associated with the environmental, health, and safety risks of shale gas development.

In FY 2013 and through the Recovery Act, the Coal program continues aggressive funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) activities, including large-scale demonstration of injection and storage in geologic formations or beneficial utilization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) through the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships and large-scale demonstration of carbon capture technologies through the Clean Coal Power Initiative, FutureGen 2.0, and Industrial CCS activities.

The CCS Demonstrations program, including the Clean Coal Power Initiative, FutureGen 2.0, and Industrial CCS Demonstrations, enables and accelerates the deployment of advanced carbon capture storage, and utilization technologies. The 2013 budget request does not provide any demonstration funds because these projects are already strongly supported in large part through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The FY 2013 budget request for the Carbon Capture & Storage and Power Systems program is $275.9 million. This program supports research to significantly reduce coal power plant emissions, including CO₂, and substantially improve efficiency to reduce carbon emissions, leading to a viable near-zero atmospheric emissions coal energy system, and supporting carbon capture, utilization and storage. It also includes $35 million for NETL staff to conduct in-house coal R&D.

The President’s budget requests $60.4 million for carbon capture R&D. This sub-program is focused on the development of post-combustion and pre-combustion CO2 capture technology for new and existing power plants as well as industrial sources.

The FY 2013 budget requests $95.5 million for carbon storage and utilization R&D. The activities conducted under this sub-program will be used to benefit the existing and future fleet of fossil fuel power generating facilities by reducing the cost-of-electricity impacts and providing protocols for carbon capture, storage and utilization demonstrations whose principal objective is to capture, transport, store, and monitor the CO₂ injected in geologic formations.

The President’s budget requests $55.2 million for advanced energy systems R&D. This sub-program focuses on reducing the cost of gasification and enabling affordable CO₂ capture, while increasing plant availability and efficiency, and maintaining environmental standards.

The FY 2013 budget also requests $29.8 million for cross-cutting research. This sub-program serves as a crosscutting bridge between basic and applied research by fostering the development and deployment of innovative systems for improving efficiency and environmental performance through the research and development of instrumentation, sensors, and controls targeted at enhancing the availability of advanced power systems while reducing costs of Advanced CCS and Power Systems.

The Oil and Natural Gas Technologies R&D program targets the development of domestic oil and natural gas resources. Funding for this program will support the coordinated effort by DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct research to understand and reduce the environmental, health and safety risks of natural gas and oil production through hydraulic fracturing. The program is also studying hydrates in the Arctic via a controlled in situ depressurization and CO₂ injection, and evaluating natural gas hydrates in the Arctic as a potential fossil energy source for the nation. The FY 2013 budget requests $17.0 million for this program area.