Agency · 1976–2026 · AAAS data
Department of Energy
National laboratories, nuclear weapons science, and energy technology from fusion to renewables.
The Department of Energy is really two things wearing one badge. It runs the national laboratory system through its Office of Science — the country's largest funder of the physical sciences, home to particle accelerators, supercomputers, and fusion experiments. And through the National Nuclear Security Administration it does the science behind the nuclear weapons stockpile. Around those sit applied programs for renewables, nuclear power, fossil energy, and the high-risk research agency ARPA-E.
The budget's shape is a long valley. Energy research and development (R&D) peaked at about $15.4 billion in 2017 dollars in 1978, at the height of the energy crisis, then fell hard through the Reagan years and bottomed out near $9 billion in the mid-1990s. The climb back took decades: only in 2018 did the inflation-adjusted budget finally pass its 1978 level, and 2022 set the series record at about $19.3 billion.
Fiscal year 2025 came in at about $20.7 billion in current dollars. The 2026 figure — roughly $14 billion, a cut of about a third — is the estimate from the White House budget request. Congress restored much of it: the enacted FY 2026 budget works out to about $17 billion in R&D, by AAAS's estimate. The budget-cycle section below shows the path, account by account.
Fig. 1 · Budget history
Energy research peaked during the late-1970s energy crisis and took four decades to climb back — it finally passed its 1978 real-terms level in 2018.
The DOE research and development (R&D) budget, every fiscal year on record.
- 1978Energy crisis peak. Energy R&D crests at about $15.4 billion in 2017 dollars at the height of the energy crisis.
- 1997Mid-1990s trough. The inflation-adjusted budget bottoms out near $9 billion after two decades of retreat.
- 2022Series record. Infrastructure-law-era funding sets a new real-terms high of about $19.3 billion in 2017 dollars.
The numbers behind this figure
| Fiscal year | Nominal dollars | Constant 2017 dollars | R&D share of GDP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 3,069 | 10,678 | 0.17% |
| 1977 | 4,154 | 13,478 | 0.21% |
| 1978 | 5,053 | 15,363 | 0.22% |
| 1979 | 5,442 | 15,308 | 0.21% |
| 1980 | 5,769 | 14,926 | 0.21% |
| 1981 | 6,156 | 14,505 | 0.2% |
| 1982 | 5,406 | 11,910 | 0.16% |
| 1983 | 5,165 | 10,904 | 0.15% |
| 1984 | 5,637 | 11,487 | 0.14% |
| 1985 | 5,979 | 11,790 | 0.14% |
| 1986 | 5,540 | 10,685 | 0.12% |
| 1987 | 5,422 | 10,229 | 0.11% |
| 1988 | 5,821 | 10,637 | 0.11% |
| 1989 | 6,255 | 10,985 | 0.11% |
| 1990 | 6,988 | 11,840 | 0.12% |
| 1991 | 7,339 | 12,005 | 0.12% |
| 1992 | 8,133 | 12,980 | 0.13% |
| 1993 | 7,444 | 11,608 | 0.11% |
| 1994 | 6,771 | 10,333 | 0.094% |
| 1995 | 6,416 | 9,588 | 0.085% |
| 1996 | 6,273 | 9,201 | 0.079% |
| 1997 | 6,217 | 8,960 | 0.074% |
| 1998 | 6,351 | 9,039 | 0.071% |
| 1999 | 6,966 | 9,794 | 0.073% |
| 2000 | 6,956 | 9,580 | 0.069% |
| 2001 | 7,733 | 10,398 | 0.073% |
| 2002 | 8,078 | 10,694 | 0.075% |
| 2003 | 8,454 | 10,980 | 0.075% |
| 2004 | 8,713 | 11,047 | 0.072% |
| 2005 | 8,620 | 10,606 | 0.067% |
| 2006 | 8,584 | 10,230 | 0.063% |
| 2007 | 9,035 | 10,479 | 0.063% |
| 2008 | 9,769 | 11,100 | 0.066% |
| 2009 | 10,301 | 11,586 | 0.071% |
| 2010 | 10,836 | 12,083 | 0.073% |
| 2011 | 10,673 | 11,667 | 0.069% |
| 2012 | 10,811 | 11,607 | 0.067% |
| 2013 | 10,705 | 11,288 | 0.064% |
| 2014 | 11,994 | 12,421 | 0.069% |
| 2015 | 14,385 | 14,744 | 0.08% |
| 2016 | 15,007 | 15,260 | 0.081% |
| 2017 | 15,319 | 15,319 | 0.08% |
| 2018 | 17,441 | 17,062 | 0.086% |
| 2019 | 18,271 | 17,550 | 0.086% |
| 2020 | 19,137 | 18,145 | 0.091% |
| 2021 | 17,759 | 16,278 | 0.077% |
| 2022 | 22,562 | 19,328 | 0.089% |
| 2023 | 20,790 | 17,031 | 0.077% |
| 2024 | 20,703 | 16,519 | 0.073% |
| 2025 | 20,693 | 16,156 | 0.071% |
| 2026est. | 13,997 | 10,706 | 0.046% |
Fig. 2 · Where the money goes
The Office of Science and the nuclear-weapons agency NNSA anchor the budget, surrounded by applied energy programs.
The major DOE budget lines tracked by AAAS. These are appropriations accounts: they overlap the budget-history series but are not an exact decomposition of it.
The numbers behind this figure
| Fiscal year | Office of Science | Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | Electricity | Nuclear Energy | Fossil Energy R&D | Energy Supply | Energy Conservation | Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy | National Nuclear Security Agency | Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 3,880 | — | — | — | 595 | 3,361 | 340 | — | — | — |
| 1986 | 3,272 | — | — | — | 559 | 3,025 | 295 | — | — | — |
| 1987 | 2,373 | — | — | — | 444 | 2,766 | 278 | — | — | — |
| 1988 | 3,399 | — | — | — | 697 | 2,815 | 303 | — | — | — |
| 1989 | 3,250 | — | — | — | 549 | 2,785 | 252 | — | — | — |
| 1990 | 3,206 | — | — | — | 584 | 2,829 | 305 | — | — | — |
| 1991 | 4,213 | — | — | — | 631 | 3,157 | 322 | — | — | — |
| 1992 | 4,727 | — | — | — | 567 | 3,363 | 367 | — | — | — |
| 1993 | 4,786 | — | — | — | 512 | 3,290 | 443 | — | — | — |
| 1994 | 4,920 | — | — | — | 513 | 3,237 | 526 | — | — | — |
| 1995 | 4,026 | — | — | — | 489 | 3,355 | 534 | — | — | — |
| 1996 | 3,670 | — | — | — | 428 | 2,756 | 450 | — | — | — |
| 1997 | 3,427 | — | — | — | 413 | 697 | 460 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | 3,548 | — | — | — | 393 | 421 | 484 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | 3,824 | — | — | — | 415 | 505 | 536 | — | — | — |
| 2000 | 3,869 | — | — | — | 485 | 512 | 647 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | 4,311 | — | — | — | 600 | 83 | 584 | — | — | — |
| 2002 | 4,320 | — | — | — | 551 | 634 | 557 | — | 10,086 | — |
| 2003 | 4,193 | — | — | — | 590 | 658 | 531 | — | 10,060 | — |
| 2004 | 4,335 | — | — | — | 673 | 470 | 466 | — | 10,988 | — |
| 2005 | 4,333 | — | — | — | 534 | 758 | 100 | — | 10,921 | — |
| 2006 | 4,214 | — | — | — | 502 | 640 | 151 | — | 10,566 | — |
| 2007 | 4,360 | 1,066 | 110 | 341 | 547 | — | — | — | 10,585 | — |
| 2008 | 4,592 | 848 | 93 | 623 | 620 | — | — | — | 9,914 | — |
| 2009 | 5,367 | 948 | 84 | 702 | 602 | — | — | — | 10,180 | — |
| 2010 | 5,426 | 2,423 | 184 | 938 | 721 | — | — | — | 10,793 | — |
| 2011 | 5,258 | 1,902 | 147 | 865 | 628 | — | — | 193 | 11,301 | — |
| 2012 | 5,204 | 1,878 | 136 | 900 | 553 | — | — | 264 | 11,606 | — |
| 2013 | 4,848 | 1,752 | 134 | 827 | 516 | — | — | 260 | 10,953 | — |
| 2014 | 5,259 | 1,871 | 148 | 900 | 564 | — | — | 287 | 11,484 | — |
| 2015 | 5,153 | 1,872 | 146 | 836 | 558 | — | — | 285 | 11,589 | — |
| 2016 | 5,347 | 2,069 | 206 | 986 | 632 | — | — | 291 | 12,527 | — |
| 2017 | 5,274 | 1,990 | 147 | 994 | 667 | — | — | 296 | 12,647 | 77 |
| 2018 | 6,013 | 2,230 | 153 | 1,157 | 698 | — | — | 339 | 14,090 | 98 |
| 2019 | 6,243 | 2,256 | 148 | 1,257 | 702 | — | — | 347 | 14,439 | 114 |
| 2020 | 6,416 | 2,546 | 174 | 1,369 | 687 | — | — | 390 | 15,311 | 143 |
| 2021 | 6,019 | 2,454 | 173 | 1,292 | 643 | — | — | 366 | 16,524 | 134 |
| 2022 | 6,991 | 2,779 | 206 | 1,377 | 489 | — | — | 341 | 17,390 | 125 |
| 2023 | 6,463 | 14,360 | 636 | 1,858 | 1,000 | — | — | 375 | 18,094 | 211 |
| 2024 | 6,433 | 2,701 | 219 | 1,316 | 675 | — | — | 359 | 18,858 | 156 |
| 2025 | 6,303 | 2,646 | 214 | 1,289 | 662 | — | — | 153 | 18,045 | 153 |
| 2026est. | 5,425 | 679 | 148 | 1,048 | 455 | — | — | 268 | 22,978 | 115 |
Fig. 3 · Basic, applied, or development
Energy is the most balanced big funder — real money in basic science, applied research, and development alike.
Research and development at Department of Energy from 2000, the first year all three categories are reported, split by character of work: basic research asks how the world works, applied research aims at a specific problem, and development turns knowledge into working systems.
The numbers behind this figure
| Fiscal year | Basic research | Applied research | Development |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,117 | 2,597 | 2,626 |
| 2001 | 3,214 | 3,102 | 2,642 |
| 2002 | 3,415 | 3,238 | 2,622 |
| 2003 | 3,320 | 3,488 | 2,672 |
| 2004 | 3,451 | 3,498 | 2,516 |
| 2005 | 3,527 | 3,557 | 2,268 |
| 2006 | 3,492 | 3,206 | 2,308 |
| 2007 | 3,635 | 3,496 | 2,425 |
| 2008 | 3,933 | 3,613 | 2,658 |
| 2009 | 4,268 | 3,385 | 2,724 |
| 2010 | 4,428 | 3,799 | 2,810 |
| 2011 | 4,350 | 3,908 | 2,581 |
| 2012 | 4,200 | 3,848 | 2,626 |
| 2013 | 4,061 | 4,064 | 2,577 |
| 2014 | 4,236 | 4,711 | 2,656 |
| 2015 | 4,589 | 5,741 | 3,397 |
| 2016 | 4,683 | 6,489 | 2,912 |
| 2017 | 4,556 | 6,684 | 2,821 |
| 2018 | 4,895 | 7,797 | 2,480 |
| 2019 | 4,942 | 7,926 | 2,521 |
| 2020 | 5,229 | 7,861 | 2,802 |
| 2021 | 5,099 | 5,796 | 2,770 |
| 2022 | 5,554 | 5,536 | 4,118 |
| 2023 | 5,411 | 5,476 | 4,134 |
| 2024 | 5,340 | 5,940 | 3,026 |
| 2025 | 5,309 | 4,681 | 3,218 |
| 2026est. | 4,449 | 1,661 | 2,627 |
Appropriations
The current budget cycle: FY 2026 enacted, FY 2027 requested
What Congress enacted for fiscal year 2026 and what the White House has requested for FY 2027, account by account. Budget authority in millions of dollars.
The research and development share of this budget, as estimated by AAAS and excluding non-R&D activities in these accounts, came to $17B enacted for FY 2026. The ledgers below compare appropriated totals, which fund whole programs and can include activity beyond R&D.
- Basic Energy Sciences (BES), FY 2026 enacted$2.7BFY 2027 request $2.1B-19.9%
- High-Energy Physics (HEP), FY 2026 enacted$1.2BFY 2027 request $1.1B-9.3%
- Adv Sci Computing Res (ASCR), FY 2026 enacted$1.1BFY 2027 request $1.1B-1.1%
- Nuclear Physics, FY 2026 enacted$866MFY 2027 request $791M-8.6%
- Bio and Environ Research (BER), FY 2026 enacted$854MFY 2027 request $396M-53.6%
- Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), FY 2026 enacted$805MFY 2027 request $755M-6.2%
- TOTAL, FY 2026 enacted$8.4BFY 2027 request $7.1B-15%
- Vehicle Tech, FY 2026 enacted$397MFY 2027 request ——
- Advanced Manufacturing, FY 2026 enacted$390MFY 2027 request $150M-61.5%
- Building Tech, FY 2026 enacted$390MFY 2027 request $20M-94.9%
- Bioenergy Tech, FY 2026 enacted$245MFY 2027 request ——
- Solar Energy, FY 2026 enacted$220MFY 2027 request ——
- Water Power, FY 2026 enacted$220MFY 2027 request ——
- Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, FY 2026 enacted$160MFY 2027 request ——
- Geothermal Tech, FY 2026 enacted$150MFY 2027 request ——
- Wind Energy, FY 2026 enacted$100MFY 2027 request ——
- TOTAL, FY 2026 enacted$3.1BFY 2027 request $1.1B-63.8%
- Other Advanced Coal R&D, FY 2026 enacted$309MFY 2027 request ——
- CCUS, FY 2026 enacted$0MFY 2027 request ——
- Natural Gas Tech, FY 2026 enacted$0MFY 2027 request ——
- Unconventional Tech, FY 2026 enacted$0MFY 2027 request ——
- Total Budget, FY 2026 enacted$720MFY 2027 request $676M-6.1%
- Adv. Reactor Demonstration, FY 2026 enacted$490MFY 2027 request $219M-55.4%
- Reactor Concepts RD&D, FY 2026 enacted$176MFY 2027 request $127M-27.8%
- Nuclear Enabling Tech, FY 2026 enacted$113MFY 2027 request $94M-17.2%
- Total Budget, FY 2026 enacted$1.8BFY 2027 request $1.4B-23%
- ARPA-E, FY 2026 enacted$350MFY 2027 request $200M-42.8%
- Electricity Delivery, FY 2026 enacted$235MFY 2027 request $203M-13.4%
- Cybersecurity and Response, FY 2026 enacted$190MFY 2027 request $160M-15.7%
- Energy Information Administration, FY 2026 enacted$135MFY 2027 request $135M+0.3%
- Clean Energy Demonstration, FY 2026 enacted$0MFY 2027 request $0M—
- RDT&E: Science Assessment, FY 2026 enacted$976MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- RDT&E: Adv Sim & Computing, FY 2026 enacted$866MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- Nonproliferation and Forensics R&D, FY 2026 enacted$809MFY 2027 request $819M+1.3%
- RDT&E: IC Fusion, FY 2026 enacted$803MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- RDT&E: Engineering, FY 2026 enacted$372MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- RDT&E: Manufacturing, FY 2026 enacted$267MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- RDT&E: Academic Programs, FY 2026 enacted$100MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- RDT&E Total, FY 2026 enacted$3.3BFY 2027 request $368M-88.9%
How much research funding does the Department of Energy receive?
DOE had about $21 billion in R&D budget authority in fiscal year 2025. For fiscal year 2026, Congress enacted about $17 billion.
What research does DOE fund?
The Department of Energy is really two things wearing one badge. It runs the national laboratory system through its Office of Science — the country's largest funder of the physical sciences, home to particle accelerators, supercomputers, and fusion experiments. And through the National Nuclear Security Administration it does the science behind the nuclear weapons stockpile. Around those sit applied programs for renewables, nuclear power, fossil energy, and the high-risk research agency ARPA-E.
How has DOE's research budget changed over time?
Energy research peaked during the late-1970s energy crisis and took four decades to climb back — it finally passed its 1978 real-terms level in 2018.