Show 0 R s If F y i 1 e t F i nom f m. m t fI t f L v f t Western Resources WRAP-UP WRAP vv n it t tIl Energy trends By Helene C J Washington A A up step-up In a nationwide nation wide search for uranium Accent on out far new ty types s of energy and the old standbys coal oil and gas-at gas the expense of the atom Plans for a significant Increase in the capacity of the federal power grid A phase out of solar heating healing demonstrations These are some of the trends which the Administration is accenting in the federal energy budget which went under scrutiny of the powerful House Appropriations Committee for the first time March 2 21 There are others Largely because of cost the federal government is going slow on funding new coal liquefaction and gasification demonstrations according ac according cording to the new budget Yet it has some new oil shale demonstrations Inthe in inthe inthe the think tank stage And a new coal solvent plant and a new 50 megawatt electric geothermal plant are demonstration projects given a t high gh priority in the energy budget Theres There's a drive to toward r more ore energy energy- y efficient homes and bUild buildings n s and a push to develop minimum efficiency standards for f r furnaces central and room air conditioners water heaters kitchen ranges refrigerators and freezers Manufacturers' Manufacturers products which do not meet these standards may not be sold in interstate commerce according to the budget The amount of funding requested for research and development RD of nuclear weaponry and other defense activity represents about 23 percent of the 1979 Department of Energy DOE budget budget 2892 2892 million out of million Yet DOE budget officers say the highly rated Atomic Energy Commission laboratories now under DOE aegis are being oriented to spend more time on civilian nuclear non-nuclear RD Budget figures dont don't show this trend as there is a hefty increase in the related defense energy programs For the 1979 fiscal year beginning Oct 1 1978 DOE is seeking budget authority from Congress to spend million about a 10 percent increase increase in increase in- in crease over the funding for the agencies agencies agencies agen agen- cies now under DOE aegis in the current 1978 fiscal year DOE came into existence Oct 1 I 1977 The rhe total energy RD budget for the federal establishment for fiscal 1979 total million of which most is earmarked to DOE About half a billion dollars in support energy RD is earmarked for all agencies including million in environmental control RD carried on by the Environmental Protection Agency URANIUM 1 ASSESSMENT A joint industry government-industry drilling program will be initiated in fiscal 1979 to determine the reliability of current uranium reserve estimates if Congress approves this portion of DOEs DOE's budget The budget request for this latest uranium assessment the government and indu industry try have done dozens of them in the past 35 years totals 95 million which represents a 46 percent increase over the 1978 program of 65 million Of this budget request DOE says The 1979 uranium resource assessment program accelerates efforts to provide data for u use e in the search for new sources of uranium It provides for completion of an assessment of currently known favorable areas by 1981 and the 1984 1964 targeted completion of an assessment of the United States These efforts are necessary to determine the existence and location of adequate supplies of uranium to support sup sup- support port the growth of nuclear power Of course assessments of uranium reserves relate to cost of extraction Without sufficient uranium reserves at the park figures the cost cost- plagued nuclear power industry in this country will level off UNUSUAL ENERGY SOURCES The 1979 budget not only tipped the scales in favor of nuclear non-nuclear sources of energy but unusual sources as well wen DOE is requesting Congress for 27 million a 29 percent increase over current funding for biomass energy experiments in 1979 Biomass literally means a mass of small living organisms Among the experiments that DOE has planned are an experimental experimental experimental ex ex- ex- ex facility to convert wood into oil design of a system and facility to convert wood and agricultural residues of into development synthetic gas acre 1000 pilot energy farms to study the most efficient methods for growing and harvesting biomass including aquatic species In the transportation for 98 sector DOE is asking Congress million a 33 million increase over 1978 funding to carry carryon on RD HD experiments in heat engines electric and hybrid vet vehicles cles and alternate fuels with the aim to cut the use of energy for or transport transport transport tran tran- sport by 25 percent by year 2000 and to reduce transports transport's dependence on petroleum Big demo developments are not contemplated in the 1979 budget largely because of cost according to DOE budget officers But aut high hig priority is given to final design and site seleCtion lion tion of or a demonstration plant to produce a solvent refined coal from which many of the pollutants and impurities of coal would be removed Although such a plant is now operating near Fort tot Lewis Wash the new plant T is being avidly sought by Senate Majority Leader Robert C C. Byrd W D-W Va and Sen Wendell Ford D Ky One favors a liquid solvent process and the other a solid soUd solvent to clean the coal but the decision on the plant location Is expected to be made on politics rather than on technical grounds and no one doubts the site Will Willbe willbe willbe be in either West Virginia or Kentucky Also on the top priority list for new demonstration plants is a 50 megawatt electric plant using geothermal heat from the earth It is expected to be located in California The Administration Ad mh ministration wants to complete the design work on this plant and start construction late in fiscal 1979 But the solar heating demonstration program ran into the same no new n W starts policy in 1979 that the Administration Administration Ad Ad- ministration has maintained on water development projects for the past two years Solar energy has a lot of friends in Congress The Administrations Administration's plan not to fund any new solar energy demo projects has already become t highly controversial in the House Science and Technology Committee now In the process of marking up theDOE the theDOE DOE 1 OE 1979 authorization bill It is expected ex ex- peeled to be overturned by Congress before the 1 DOE OE budget gets through the Congressional mill OIL Olt SHALE PLANT In the think tank tt t category of demo plants is a proposal being studied by DOE and the 1 Department of 1 Defense to build up to five modules of a shale oil plant on the Colorado Oil Shale Naval Reserve in Western Colorado near the old Bureau of Mines demon demonn demonstration plant at Rifle now leased to wt which ch has a Navy contract now Under this proposal each module would be c capable pable of retorting barrels of shale oil a day If five were grouped together to ether the complex would be a small-scale small sized commercial-sized shale oil il processing plant As this is just in the talk stage there is nothing inthe in inthe inthe the 1979 budget on the proposal Funding Funding Fun Fun- ding for the federal oil shale program totals in 1979 1919 budget requests about a 28 million increase over the 1978 programs Cattle CaUle Feeding Profits Margins S 15 15 cwt S 10 5 mi 5 5 T 10 1015 15 ts 1975 1976 1977 1978 CATTLE FEEDERS are finally making money Its It's about time The average cattle feeder hasn't made a profit since December 1975 as the chart above shows That's over two years of consecutive consecutive consecutive con con- losses pound feeders bought last August at 42 would require 37 selling price to cover feed and feeder costs After the feeder pays a veterinarian and trucker deducts a return to labor and then deducts depreciation on his facilities returns dont don't look quite so sparkling and makes an even finer line for the cattle producer at the bottom of vp w 4 ell III O Space Farming in the Future rise High-rise hog farms No its it's not a joke That's just one of the developments forecasted for the future by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers The group also predicts farming of the seas and orbiting farms in space Sometime perhaps by century 22 agricultural production will willbe willbe willbe be relegated d to locations in orbiting space stations wrote Richard Phillips of the Agricultural Engineering Department of the University University University Uni Uni- of or Missouri There all aspects of the environment can be matched completely to the needs of the animals and crops within each structure |