Remarks Prepared for
U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson
To Employees at the Federal Energy Technology Center
In Morgantown, WV
December 10, 1999

It has been a while since I made my first trip to FETC -- a little over a year ago at your Pittsburgh site. But in the words of General Douglas MacArthur, I said then that "I would return." Today, I am living up to my promise.

Your institution has a long and distinguished history. You have made remarkable contributions. We generate much of our energy today with technologies you have helped develop over the last 20 or 30 years. For instance, the low-NOx combustors in most of today's power plants can trace their roots back to your facility. The same could be said for many of our country's coal cleaning plants.

And without question, we will generate much of our energy for the next 20 years and beyond from innovations you are working on today.

Today, 85 percent of our country's energy comes from fossil fuels. 90 percent of the world's energy demand is met by these fuels. And that is not going to change overnight. By 2020, the world's appetite for energy is likely to be twice what it was in 1990. And most of that appetite will still be fed by fossil fuels.

The President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology has cited efficiency in the combustion of fossil fuels as the number one opportunity to make environmental progress -- both domestically and internationally. That is what you do here -- you develop ways to boost the efficiency of fossil fuels. That is good for this country's energy future. It's good for the world's environmental future.

There is just as much opportunity for high-tech innovation in fossil fuels as there is for solar, wind or any other energy resource. Your Vision 21 program is a good example.

But we need to do more to send that message. We need to elevate the potential for "high tech" fossil fuels to the same stature as other energy resources that capture the public's attention.

For example, we have a National Renewable Energy Laboratory as the center of excellence for renewable energy. It is where the world goes for the latest in photovoltaics or wind energy or other renewable technologies. It has gained stature not only because it does good work, but because it is known to the world as a National Laboratory.

We must do the same thing for fossil fuels. We need a world- renowned center for fossil energy and environmental technology. And we will make that happen. In a few minutes, I will sign a Secretarial directive that will change the Federal Energy Technology Center to the "National Energy Technology Laboratory." You will become the 15th such lab in our complex.

Because of the important work you do, I want you to have the full status of a National Lab -- the full rank and prestige. I want the world to know that this is the place to come to see what is on the horizon for fossil energy technology.

I want this to be a lot more than just a name change. I am serious about wanting this site at Morgantown and your companion site at Pittsburgh to become the "center of the universe" for fossil energy and environmental technology.

And I also want you to be a different type of National Laboratory. The M&O [management and operating contractor] model has worked at other National Labs, but there is no rule that it must be the ONLY model.

There are major advantages in the way you currently do business -- and I want to retain those advantages. For example, the way you establish research and development partnerships with industry and universities provides a "built-in" technology transfer mechanism. It works, and I don't want to change it.

I want to use the prestige of a national laboratory to stimulate new technology alliances in this region of the country. Your supercomputing initiative with West Virginia University, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Pittsburgh can be the first of many such partnerships that create a new high-tech corridor in this region.

I see no reason to change the Federal status of your in-house scientists, engineers and technicians. They are a valuable source of new ideas and a strong complement to your external partnerships. Rather than change their status, I want to enhance it.

In other words, I want to take what I know works here -- and what works best with your industry -- and build on it, so it can be even more effective and better recognized in the 21st century.

You have built a strong and lasting capability as the federal government's center of coal-related expertise. I want to build on that capability and strengthen it.

I also want you to build the same capability for natural gas. So I am also announcing today that I will establish, within this facility, a new Center for Advanced Natural Gas Studies.

Our Energy Information Administration tells us that natural gas will be the "fuel of choice" for the next 10 or 20 years, perhaps longer. It will dominate the market for new electric power supplies. We are counting on it to meet many of our energy goals and many of our environmental goals.

Yet, our natural gas programs are scattered throughout the Department. We need one place that looks out for the future of natural gas -- from borehole to burnertip. One place that understands the innovations needed to produce tomorrow's gas.

We need a place that knows how it moves from the wellhead to the consumer. One place that understands the gas customer -- the turbine operator today, the fuel cell operator tomorrow.

We need a lead organization that can fill the gaps in our natural gas portfolio -- for example, to ensure that our gas infrastructure remains reliable. We need a strong modeling capability. We need a strong simulation capability. We need a center that is just as adept at analyzing issues of land access as it is at analyzing the firing characteristics of a gas combustor.

In other words, we need a strategic center that looks at the big picture and devises the bold ideas that allow the FULL potential of natural gas to be achieved. And I want that center to be located at this Laboratory.

Some prior Administrations have asked "Why do we need fossil fuel research -- and this fossil energy technology center -- at all." I want to make sure that no Administration ever asks that question again.

We did pretty well in the FY2000 budget -- holding our own in most fossil energy areas, adding funding in some others. But I want to start building some momentum.

Let's use this new national laboratory to bring in new ideas in combustion simulation, in distributed power, and in ultra-clean fuels. Let's build this center so it is recognized in the future as the place where carbon sequestration technologies became a viable answer to climate change.

Let's make this facility known as the place where the idea for the next-generation gas turbine was born -- perhaps designed on the next generation of supercomputers.

Let's have this laboratory recognized as the place where we removed environmental concerns about the use of coal...and where we helped guarantee the long-term future of gas by resolving the mysteries of methane hydrates.

In short, I would like this center to help future generations feel more confident about their future. I want them to live in a healthier environment, breathe cleaner air, and enjoy an even stronger economy. And I want them to know that these benefits come from the work you are doing.

None of what we are doing today would be possible if it wasn't for the vision of the man who shares the stage with me this afternoon.

Senator Byrd began building for this day almost 40 years ago when he sponsored legislation to create the Office of Coal Research and began creating a national focus on the future of fossil fuels. He has been a steadfast and forceful supporter of energy and environmental research. He has been a champion of this center. So it is altogether fitting that Senator Byrd is here today to participate in the next evolutionary step in this center's important history.

Senator, would you say a few words....