Oral Testimony by Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Under Secretary for Science
U.S. Department of Energy
before the House Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
on the FY 2008 Office of Science Budget
March 14, 2007

Chairman Visclosky, Ranking Member Hobson, members of the Committee, I’m grateful for the opportunity this morning to discuss the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request for the DOE Office of Science.

The DOE Office of Science is the primary agency in the federal government for energy-related basic research.  The Office interfaces with DOE’s applied research and defense programs upon which our nation relies for both energy security and national defense.  Our goal is to underpin the applied research programs with the finest basic science, and at the same time to energize our basic research with insights and opportunities from advanced applied research.  Transformational basic science discoveries are essential for the success of the Department’s efforts in such renewable energy sources as hydrogen, solar power, and biofuels; and in electrical energy storage, critical for many renewable energy sources because they are intermittent.  We are one Department, and we have been working very hard together to strengthen the relationship between the Department’s basic and applied research programs.

Let me say a few words this morning about the critical role that basic science-- supported by the Office of Science--plays in addressing our nation’s energy challenge. 

First, cellulosic ethanol.  To make this biofuel truly cost-effective, we must produce ethanol from cellulose efficiently.  The problem is that the lignins surrounding  the cellulose in plants inhibit currently available enzymes from breaking down the cellulose to sugars that can be fermented into ethanol.  The Office of Science will be deploying three new innovative Bioenergy Research Centers studying both microbes and plants, developing new methods based on processes actually found in nature, to create the breakthroughs we need.  For example, our DOE Joint Genome Institute recently announced, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service, the identification of the metabolic pathway in a fungus found in the bowels of insects that holds the secret to effective fermentation of the sugar xylose, a key to making cellulosic ethanol cost-effective.

Second, intermittent sources of electricity such as wind and solar.  The key to baseload electrical generation from these renewable sources is electric energy storage. In April of this year, we’ll bring together leading scientists for a major workshop to chart a transformational path forward for electrical energy storage.  We shall be considering super capacitors, and other innovative approaches based on the latest advances in materials science and nanotechnology, to change the way we approach electrical energy storage.  Solving this problem is a key to enabling renewable energy to make major contributions to electric base load generation.

These are examples of our mission in the Office of Science--to invest in basic research designed to bring transformational breakthroughs for our nation.  Supporting transformational research also means providing cutting-edge scientific facilities, through our 10 national laboratories, that will allow scientists from universities and the private sector to do the analysis that will give them an advantage over their colleagues in other countries, and thereby contributing to American competitiveness.  It means educating, training, and sustaining a world-class scientific workforce, thousands-strong (25,500 in our FY 08 budget) in universities and laboratories across our nation for the sake of our country’s future. 

We are not doing this in a vacuum.  Other nations are increasing their investment in basic science, because they know that those who dominate science will dominate the twenty-first century global economy.  The President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request for the Office of Science of $4.4 billion, an increase of 15.8 percent over the FY 2007 appropriation, is an important milestone on the path to doubling federal support for basic research in the physical sciences over the next ten years, and an indispensable investment in our nation’s energy security and America’s continued competitiveness in the global economy.