Yet to be ratified by Congress, Trump's budget request seeks $930.7 million.
Of the total, $730.6 million will be set aside for the Fossil Energy Research and Development Programme, which includes R&D programmes in advanced coal energy systems and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage; natural gas technologies; and unconventional fossil energy technologies from petroleum-oil technologies; as well as funding for the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
A further $200.1 million will fund the Office of Petroleum Reserves, which includes the strategic petroleum reserve and the related strategic petroleum account; the naval petroleum and oil shale reserves; the northeast home heating oil reserve; and the energy security and infrastructure modernisation fund.
The budget request focuses on early-stage R&D and reflects an increased reliance on the private sector to fund later-stage research, development and commercialisation of energy technologies. Under the budget request, the NETL would receive $117.5 million for NETL research and operations, infrastructure, and programme direction and a further $34.9 million for headquarters programme direction and special recruitment to continue supporting the laboratory's capabilities and competitiveness.
The budget also supports extracting critical minerals from coal and coal by-products as "one of many" non-thermal, non-power uses of coal
According to the DOE, research into advanced coal processing and manufacturing of coal-based materials and products would help to develop new markets for coal, "ensuring that the world's largest coal reserves" would be put to good use in next-generation coal-based products and technologies.
Meanwhile, robust investments in carbon capture, utilisation, storage, and power generation efficiency would seek to ensure the existing coal-fired power generation fleet is greener and more efficient than before.
