EERE Funding Opportunity Announcements

This FOA will advance research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) in several areas critical to achieving net-zero greenhouse (GHG) emission by 2050 including:

Development of innovative battery chemistries, reducing GHG emissions in off-road vehicles, improving transportation efficiency via connected vehicles, domestic production of electric steels and improved cybersecurity for electric vehicle charging.

The anticipated FOA targets Vehicle Technologies research and development projects potentially including:

Next Generation Phosphate-Based Cathodes

Na-ion Battery Seedling Projects for Electric Vehicle Applications

Low GHG Concepts for Off-Road Vehicles

Saving Energy with Connectivity

Domestically Produced E-Steels

Cybersecurity for Smart and Secure Electric Vehicle Charging

The activities to be funded under this FOA support BIL section 40208, Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Applications Program, and the broader government-wide approach to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical materials to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. This BIL section is focused on research, development, and demonstration of:

· second-life applications for electric drive vehicle batteries that have been used to power electric drive vehicles; and

· technologies and processes for final recycling and disposal of electric drive vehicle batteries

Modification 0002: The purpose of this modification is to:

• Update the minimum non-federal cost share amount for Topic 1; and
• Provide clarification on blended cost share.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is to:

• Update estimated funding for Topic Area 4;
• Clarify the requirements for DOE/NNSA and Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs regarding a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA);
• Add language to the Content and Form of the Full Application for Topics 4 and 5;
• Add the Community Benefits Plan template;
• Clarify RDD&D Community Benefits Plan language for Topics 2 and 3;
• Add reporting requirements to track progress toward key departmental goals.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0003213 on behalf of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), which coordinates hydrogen activities with offices across DOE as described in the DOE Hydrogen Program Plan. These activities align with the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, and other DOE initiatives as described below.

Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis are top priorities of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, “to deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050, to the benefit of all Americans”. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering; catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D); and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities.

The research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection. Specifically, this FOA will support the goals of the H2@Scale Initiative, which aims to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization to enable decarbonization and revenue opportunities across multiple sectors. These objectives align with DOE’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot^TM (Hydrogen Shot), which targets affordable clean hydrogen production at $1/kg by 2031. Advancing technologies that will facilitate the use of clean hydrogen will support the goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050.

In addition to RDD&D topics, this FOA will focus on enabling hydrogen deployments through safety and permitting support, equitable community engagement, and developing strategies for effective community benefits.

As part of the whole-of-government approach to advance equity, it is the policy of the Biden Administration that the federal government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. As part of this approach, this FOA encourages the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups.

Topics Include:

Topic 1: Components for Hydrogen Fueling of Medium-and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Topic 2: Standarized Hydrogen Refueling Station of the Future

Topic 3: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Port Equipment

Topic 4: Enabling Permitting and Safety for Hydrogen Deployment

Topic 5: Equitable Hydrogen Technology Community Engagement

Please see the 'Full FOA Document' in the DOCUMENTS section below.

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to H2FCFOA@ee.doe.gov

The Teaming Partner List is transferred from Notice of Intent (NOI) DE-FOA-0003212. The list will remain open and will be updated at least weekly until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Applicants must submit a Concept Paper by 5:00pm ET on the due date listed in the FOA to be eligible to submit a Full Application. Concept Papers and Full Applications will only be accepted through EERE eXCHANGE.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the Deadline: In the event an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov).

The eXCHANGE system is designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The “APPLY” and “SUBMIT” buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office FOA to Advance the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy.”

Clean hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are important elements of a comprehensive energy portfolio, particularly for use in hard-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy (such as heavy-duty transportation and industrial applications) and to enable long duration energy storage for a clean electric grid. These elements directly support the Administration’s goals of achieving carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050, benefiting all Americans.

This FOA supports the vision outlined in the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, affordable clean hydrogen for a net-zero carbon future and a sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy. The FOA will target Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment (RDD&D) topics critical to enabling increased adoption of clean hydrogen across sectors, particularly in heavy-duty (HD) vehicles and other heavy-duty transportation applications, which supports the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, including the buildout of fueling corridors. Increased adoption of hydrogen technologies will help achieve economies of scale and drive down costs, directly supporting DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) Program, an $8 billion federal investment to create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. Improvements in clean hydrogen technologies will also contribute to the long-term viability of the H2Hubs and other commercial-scale deployments. Activities funded under this FOA will also align with the H2@Scale Initiative, which aims to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization to enable decarbonization and revenue opportunities across multiple sectors. The FOA’s objectives support DOE’s Hydrogen Shot goal, which targets affordable clean hydrogen production at $1/kg within a decade. In addition to RD&D topics, this FOA will focus on enabling hydrogen deployments through safety and permitting support, equitable community engagement, and developing strategies for effective community benefits.

Hydrogen and fuel cells can help create opportunities and benefits for communities that have been historically underserved, such as improving air quality, providing resiliency, and creating jobs, including good-paying union jobs. Consistent with DOE’s commitment to benefit all Americans, this anticipated FOA will encourage the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups.

EERE plans to issue the FOA before or in January 2024 via the EERE eXCHANGE website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA, they should register in EERE eXCHANGE. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE eXCHANGE.

Navigate to TPL-0000033 in EERE Exchange to access the Teaming Partner List for this solicitation.

This notice of intent (NOI) is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All the information contained in this NOI is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this NOI. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential applicants to submit questions.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office and the Vehicles Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “WASTE: Waste Analysis and Strategies for Transportation End-uses”.

If issued, this FOA will support the development of planning and strategies for utilizing organic waste as a feedstock for various transportation fuel end products. For many communities, organic waste streams present a variety of economic, environmental, and social sustainability challenges. These waste streams include food waste, municipal wastewater sludges, animal manure, fats, oils, and greases. There are significant costs associated with management of organic waste, including treatment, stabilization, hauling, and disposal costs or tipping fees. These waste streams also represent major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to other environmental issues including air and water quality degradation. Increasingly, State and local laws and regulations are requiring that organic waste streams be diverted from landfills, necessitating the implementation of new processing strategies and development of novel business models to meet these requirements.

Municipal entities and local transit authorities also have significant local demand for the energy that can be derived from these waste streams. There are examples where waste-derived biogas or renewable natural gas^[1] (RNG) are being used to fuel bus fleets and trash collection vehicles or produce hydrogen for hydrogen-fueled vehicles. These opportunities are often community-specific, and the planned FOA is intended to help communities realize these or similar synergies between waste infrastructure and sustainable transportation needs. Permissible fuels from projects funded under this FOA could include renewable natural gas, partially upgraded biogas, hydrogen, biocrude, renewable diesel, renewable di-methyl-ether, or others.

^[1] Note: unless otherwise indicated, for purposes of this FOA, “renewable natural gas” is biogas that has been upgraded to pipeline standard gas and/or another pipeline-transportable, fungible standard.

Recognizing that communities may be at different stages in their planning efforts, the planned FOA will seek a phased approach to achieve the outcomes described above. Topic Area 1 is intended to support feasibility studies. For communities that may have already identified potential solutions for their waste/transportation needs, Topic Area 2 would support more detailed engineering design work to position these entities for future projects and demonstrations.

It is therefore anticipated the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

Topic Area 1 is aimed at helping move communities beyond a conceptualization phase by supporting in-depth feasibility analysis relating to waste-to-fuels approaches. While technical assistance programs can accomplish some of these objectives, direct financial assistance can close this capacity gap.

Topic Area 2 is targeted toward communities that have previously completed feasibility analyses and are seeking funding to further refine their project concept. Lack of municipal and non-profit staff capacity and availability of funding often puts detailed design work out of reach for many communities; Topic Area 2 is intended to close that gap for completing detailed engineering design. Topic Area 2 will also allow a limited amount of experimental work, intended to generate the data required to refine the engineering design and/or data needed for permitting or air quality analysis. The experimental work can either take place on-site or be done remotely, provided the waste streams being used are sourced from the recipient community. Model waste streams will not be permitted. The use of real waste streams (as opposed to model waste streams) will increase the likelihood of technical success by ensuring the process is sufficiently robust.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue these FOAs in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOAs have been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

EERE plans to issue the FOAs in or around December 2023 via the EERE eXCHANGE website https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov/. If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding these FOAs, they should register in EERE eXCHANGE. When the FOAs are released, applications will be accepted only through EERE eXCHANGE.

The anticipated FOA and any related activities support BIL section 40208, Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Application Program aimed at research, development, and demonstration of

• second-life applications for electric drive vehicle batteries that have been used to power electric drive vehicles; and
• technologies and processes for final recycling and disposal of the [electric drive vehicle batteries].

This Funding Opportunity Announcement will support the Government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection. Specifically, the Research and Development activities funded under this Announcement will ensure relevance and responsiveness to the needs of electric vehicle manufacturers via working with, and through a consortium, that brings together a significant fraction of the major manufacturers of electric drive vehicles in the United States, to manage pre-competitive, vehicle-related Research and Development in advanced battery technology, with substantial involvement by the Department of Energy.

Please see the entire FOA for details assoicated with this FOA.

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, through the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Ride and Drive Electric, Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement.”

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) was created through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) under Title VIII, Division J, Federal Highway Administration - Highway Infrastructure Program to facilitate collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Joint Office’s vision is a future where everyone can ride and drive electric, and the Office is a critical component in the implementation of the BIL. Specifically, the Joint Office provides support and expertise to a multitude of programs that seek to deploy a network of electric vehicle chargers, zero-emission fueling infrastructure, and zero-emission transit and school buses. The Joint Office provides technical assistance related to zero emission vehicles, conducts data sharing, studies, training, and certification program development, invests in pilots and demonstrations, and pursues other actions to reduce transportation-related emissions and to mitigate the effects of climate change. This funding opportunity seeks to advance the mission and vision of the Joint Office by addressing discrete challenges to a convenient, affordable, reliable, and equitable electric vehicle (EV) charging network by enhancing institutional capacity, encouraging holistic approaches, fostering inclusive and equitable outcomes, and ensuring a world-class customer experience.

This Notice of Intent (NOI) is for informational purposes only.  Any information contained in this NOI is subject to change. Questions and comments regarding this NOI are not being sought and will not be accepted for consideration at this time.  If a FOA is issued, an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions will be provided.

Modification 0001:

This modification updates section references under Section IV.F. In addition, an “Energy Justice Report” template has been provided in the Application Forms and Templates section below under this FOA posting, and referenced in sections IV.C and IV.D.vi of the FOA document.

_______________________________________________________________________

The Office of State and Community Energy Programs is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled Energy Improvements at Public K-12 School Facilities - Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Renew America's Schools.

The activities to be funded under this FOA support BIL section 40541 and the broader government-wide approach to support projects that enable replicable and scalable impacts, create innovative, sustaining partnerships, leverage funding and economies of scale, focus on disadvantaged communities, improve student, teacher, and occupant health, enrich learning and growth, assist schools that serve as community assets (e.g., neighborhood cooling centers or disaster recovery shelters), and are crafted thoughtfully within the context of public school facilities (e.g., procurement restraints, construction windows, etc.).

Topic Area 1 – High-Impact Energy Efficiency and Health Improvements

Proposals contemplated under this topic area will include energy improvements that result in direct reduction to school energy costs, increase energy efficiency, and lead to improvements in teacher and student health, including indoor air quality. Energy cost savings may be realized by reduced loads and/or by demand flexibility and demand response approaches.

Topic Area 2 - Innovative Energy Technology Packages

Proposals contemplated under this topic include innovative energy technology packages. Applicants may include any improvement, repair, or renovation to a school that incorporates two or more of the following energy improvements:

DOE expects to make a total of approximately $80,000,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. DOE anticipates making approximately 20-100 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary between $500,000 and $15,000,000.

Link to Energy Justice Dashboard: https://energyjustice-schools.egs.anl.gov/

Link to Needs Assessment Tools: School Needs and Benefits Assessment Resources | Department of Energy

SCEP is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this initiative. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topic to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the FOA document for more information.

The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of, and with the Applicant's concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Manufacturing Office and Geothermal Technologies Office, a joint Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Lithium Extraction & Conversion from Geothermal Brines”.

Through this FOA, EERE seeks to address gaps in domestic supply chains for lithium batteries for electric vehicles and stationary storage. The U.S. currently has limited production of lithium from domestic sources and also lacks domestic capabilities to refine materials needed to support component manufacturing – including lithium hydroxide needed for lithium battery cathode production. Geothermal brines have proven to be a sustainable resource of critical materials including lithium. Direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines represents an opportunity to produce lithium hydroxide from domestic sources in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

The goals of this FOA are to:

• Enable environmentally and socially responsible domestic manufacturing of battery-grade (i.e., high purity) lithium hydroxide from geothermal brines;

• Diversify the domestic supply of lithium hydroxide;

• Validate and demonstrate domestic pilot plants and related technologies to support the transition to U.S. manufacturing; and

• Mature nascent technologies, processes, and methods to improve treatment of direct lithium extraction influent and effluent streams.

DOE is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this FOA. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topics to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the NOI document for more information.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technology Office, a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled “Fiscal Year 2022 Vehicle Technologies Office Program Wide FOA”.

The RDD&D activities to be funded under this anticipated FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection. Specifically, this FOA will advance RDD&D in several areas critical to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, including: advancement of electric drive technologies using less rare-earth metal, reduction of weight of battery electric vehicle (BEV) technologies, electrification of non-road vehicles, improvements in off-road vehicle charging, improved efficiency of engines using low-carbon fuels, and deployment of these technologies among diverse communities.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is issuing, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Projects awarded under this FOA will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).  The BIL is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy through enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the world, creating good jobs, ensuring stronger access to these economic benefits for disadvantaged communities. The BIL appropriates more than $62 billion to DOE to deliver a more equitable clean energy future for the American people.

The BIL will invest more than $7 billion in the batteries supply chain over the five year period encompassing fiscal years (FYs) 2022 through 2026. This includes sustainable sourcing and processing of the critical minerals used in battery production without new extraction or mining all the way through end-of-life battery collection and recycling.

This FOA and any related activities support BIL section 40208. The sections are focused on Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Program which includes second-life applications for electric drive vehicle batteries that have been used to power electric drive vehicles; and technologies and processes for final recycling and disposal of the electric drive vehicle batteries.

Through this Request For Information (RFI), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) seeks input regarding the implementation of Section 40541 of the IIJA, which provides $500 million for grants for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and alternative fueled vehicles improvements at public school facilities. DOE aims to facilitate substantial additional investment, prioritize schools with high needs, minimize administrative burden, and build enduring capacity in local educational agencies (LEAs) and the states to maximize impact equitably and efficiently. DOE is seeking information amongst these six categories of questions:

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue a FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE may also elect not to issue a FOA. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of EERE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to SchoolsRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on May 18th, 2022. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 10 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish.

EERE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.

Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:

Company / institution name; Company / institution contact; Contact's address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Please see the full RFI document in the Documents section below.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. EERE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. EERE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

The Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and the Advanced Grid Research and Development Division (AGR&D), within DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE), seeks public comment on its Request for Information (RFI) number DE-FOA-0002528 regarding Integrating Electric Vehicles onto the Electric Grid. The Energy Act of 2020 directs DOE to examine the research, development, and demonstration opportunities, challenges, and standards needed for integrating electric vehicles onto the electric grid.

Building a clean energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050“ to the benefit of all Americans. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of disadvantaged communities.

The FOA seeks projects across the following areas: electric vehicle community partner demonstration projects; electric vehicle workplace charging projects; RDD&D of technologies to reduce the cost of EV chargers, advanced engines and fuels that reduce emissions, including natural gas, propane, and dimethyl ether; and, innovative solutions for medium/heavy duty on- and off-road vehicles including electrification and high-power charging.

Amendment 000002

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled "Low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Vehicle Technologies Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment".

Building a clean energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. The Administration has laid out a bold plan to lead the world in building a clean energy economy, address climate change, and net-zero emissions no later than 2050. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering and catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment.

The Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) funds a broad portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects to develop affordable, efficient and clean transportation options to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the development and widespread use of a variety of innovative transportation technologies. The FOA may seek innovative solutions for on- and off-road vehicles to support the reduction of emissions and increased efficiencies in the transportation sector and may include request for proposals onelectric vehicle community partner demonstration projects, electric vehicle workplace charging, technologies to reduce the cost of EV chargers, advanced engines and fuels including natural gas, propane, and dimethyl ether; and innovative solutions for medium/heavy duty on- and off-road vehicles including electrification and high-power charging

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "SuperTruck 3."

Building a clean energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. The Administration has laid out a bold plan to lead the world in building a clean energy economy, address climate change, and achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering and catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment.

How freight moves is changing dramatically due to a number of factors including new technologies, business models, and consumer demands. Although Class 7-8 trucks are still the most significant consumer of fuel, medium duty Class 4-6 vehicles also offer significant opportunities for higher efficiency and electrification.

The Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) funds a broad portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects to develop new affordable, efficient and clean transportation options to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the development and widespread use of a variety of innovative transportation technologies. VTO-funded research has greatly reduced the cost of electric vehicle batteries and nearly every plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) on the road today uses VTO-developed battery technology. There are also efficiency opportunities beyond vehicle components and systems. Advances in connectivity and automation have the potential to dramatically improve transportation system-level energy efficiency, energy productivity, and affordability. VTO has developed robust modeling, simulation, and big data analytics capabilities, while research of advanced sensing and perception technologies, system controls, and other connected and automated technologies has advanced rapidly.

HFTO is focused on enabling large scale hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and use across applications and sectors, including medium and heavy-duty transportation. Interest in hydrogen powered medium/heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles is growing rapidly due to the benefits of zero tailpipe emissions and low life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, along with extended driving range, fast fueling times, high fuel efficiency, high power operation, and zero noise pollution.

In partnership with industry, EERE’s VTO and HFTO have established aggressive targets to focus research on cost-reduction, efficiency, and performance.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002446. The activities supported by this FOA are authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) Public Law 109-58 (Aug. 5, 2005), Title VIII - HYDROGEN, Sections 801 to 816. These provisions are found in the United States Code at 42 U.S.C. §§ 16151 to 16165. Title VIII authorizes the Secretary of Energy to conduct a program of research, development and demonstration on technologies relating to the production, purification, distribution, storage, and use of hydrogen energy, fuel cells, and related infrastructure.

This FOA supports research and development (R&D) to enable “H2@Scale” − a DOE initiative to achieve large scale production, storage, transport, and utilization of hydrogen across multiple sectors.1 Supporting EERE’s core priorities of energy affordability, integration and storage, H2@Scale research, development and demonstration (RD&D) aims to advance the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in integrated energy systems across key applications that provide a value proposition as well as reduce emissions. However, a number of challenges remain including cost, performance, durability, manufacturing and scale-up issues, and developing integrated systems that demonstrate the unique technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells.

To address these challenges, HFTO supports a comprehensive RD&D portfolio addressing materials-, component- and systems-level R&D on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies (e.g., MW-scale electrolyzers, fuel cells for heavy-duty transportation applications, hydrogen delivery and fueling infrastructure, among others); and technology acceleration efforts addressing first-of-a-kind demonstrations of integrated energy systems, as well as manufacturing innovations and safety codes and standards. HFTO RD&D relies heavily on collaborations among various industry and university stakeholders and the national laboratories, including through HFTO-managed consortia.

This year, HFTO launched two major collaborative research initiatives leveraging world-class expertise and state-of-the-art equipment at the national laboratories: the Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) consortium and the H2NEW consortium.2 Under each consortium, DOE national laboratories are working together in cutting-edge R&D and collaborating with the hydrogen and fuel cell communities to identify innovative ways to make hydrogen and fuel cell technologies more affordable and competitive in today’s market. Each consortium is planned at $50 million over five years, along with a similar level for industry and university FOAs, to advance progress in specific hydrogen production and fuel cell RD&D areas:

• M2FCT includes Los Alamos and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories as co-leads, and focuses on fuel cell durability, performance, and cost to better position fuel cell trucks as a viable option in the long-haul trucking market.
• H2NEW includes National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory as co-leads, and focuses on R&D to enable affordable, durable and efficient large-scale electrolyzers, which produce hydrogen from electricity and water (at both high and low temperatures).

This HFTO FY21 RD&D FOA will provide more than $33,500,000 in Federal funding for topics designed to supplement the current HFTO RD&D portfolio in the advancement of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, with an emphasis on incentivizing collaborative progress among industry, university and national laboratory stakeholders, including coordination with the M2FCT and H2NEW Consortia. This FOA includes the following four areas of R&D:

2) Efficient and Innovative Hydrogen Production This topic includes two focus areas aimed at developing sustainable generation technologies to enable low-cost production of clean hydrogen at large scale. The first area, carried out in collaboration with DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), focuses on increasing the production volume of advanced components, stacks, sub-systems, and systems for multi-MW-scale high-temperature electrolyzers to lower hydrogen production costs. This would be coordinated with the H2NEW consortium. The second focus area supports technology development which enables low cost hydrogen production via waste and biomass conversion. Research approaches in this area include microbial conversion technologies viable at large or distributed/community scales, with development of novel systems to bring down cost, improve yield, and enable scale-up.

3) High-flow Fueling Applications This topic includes two focus areas for development of novel hydrogen fueling technologies and processes that can increase hydrogen dispensing rates to facilitate rapid fueling of heavy-duty vehicles. The first topic area focuses on low-cost, reliable, domestically supplied hydrogen fueling station components to enable high-flow hydrogen fueling of heavy-duty trucks. The second focus area supports R&D necessary to develop a high-flow gaseous fueling model and ultimately a standard protocol which can achieve targeted fill rates.

4) Analysis This topic includes three focus areas for the development of a comprehensive set of cost analyses involving all aspects of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Projects would define the current state-of-the-art in key areas, develop and refine system configurations and designs, provide guidance on R&D gaps, and help to direct future R&D priorities in fuel cell, hydrogen production, and hydrogen storage technologies.

***NOTICE: New Application System Launched***

EERE issued this FOA in December of 2020 via the new EERE Program Information Center (EPIC) website https://epic.ee.doe.gov/

*******HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE, the FOA has been moved to the Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications, for those that submitted an eligible Conept Paper under this FOA in EPIC, must be submitted through Exchange by the deadline listed below.

In addition, all questions pertaining to this FOA must now be submitted to HFTOFOA@ee.doe.gov. The list of Q&A's from EPIC, to date, is posted below.

DE-FOA-0002358: Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy’s in support of Battery Critical Materials Supply Chain R&D.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to challenges and opportunities in the upstream and midstream critical materials battery supply chains. EERE is specifically interested in information on raw minerals production and refining and processing of cathode materials including cobalt, lithium, and nickel. This RFI is being issued by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), in collaboration with the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) and Vehicles Technologies Office (VTO).

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. EERE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. EERE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to BatteryCriticalMaterialsRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on July 31, 2020. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or pdf attachment to the email, and no more than 10 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

MODIFICATION 0004: The purpose of this modification is to correct Modification 0003 and clarify:

(1) the use of coal and coal-based sources is specifically not of interest under Topic Area 2 on page 19:

Proposed projects must not include coal or coal-based resources (see Section I.C of the FOA).

(2) the use of coal and coal-based sources is specifically not of interest under all Topic Areas of the FOA on page 21:

For applications under all Topic Areas of the FOA, proposed projects must not include coal or coal-based resources. Applicants may see Section I.E for additional details for related opportunities.

3) the submission deadlines are extended on page i.

Submission Deadline for Concept Papers:

6/29/20 5:00pm ET

Submission Deadline for Full Applications:

8/19/20 5:00pm ET

Expected Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments:

9/17/20 5:00pm ET

MODIFICATION 0003: The purpose of this modification is to clarify the restrictions on the use of coal and coal-based sources in Topic Area 2 of the FOA on page 19 and page 21:

"For all Areas of Interest under Topic 2 of the FOA, flexible or mixed raw materials sources are of interest, but cannot include greater than 49% coal or coal-based sources by weight. Proposed projects to Topic Area 2 of this FOA must not be duplicative of existing efforts of the Feasibility of Recovery Rare Earth Elements Program at the National Energy Technology Laboratory."

MODIFICATION 0002: The purposes of this modification are to clarify:

(1) the definition of "raw materials" under this FOA on page 11:

"For the purposes of all topics in the FOA, "raw materials" refer to materials or minerals extracted from the natural environment and any associated waste streams, but do NOT include end-of-life products."; and

(2) which materials (raw materials vs. end-of-life products) are of interest for separation and processing under Topic 1 Area of Interest 2 on page 15:

Topic 1, Area of Interest 2, seeks projects to improve industrial beneficiation (froth flotation, magnetic separation, or gravity flotation), separation (solvent extraction) and/or processing (molten salt electrolysis and metallothermic reduction) of REEs. In addition to the Topic 1, Area of Interest 2, specific requirements below, improvements to REE separation and processing should be able to handle flexible feedstocks (Figure 3). Of particular interest are technologies that can handle both raw materials and end-of-life products. Proposed technologies cannot solely target end-of-life products, or propose end-of-life products as the material choice for demonstration of the proposed technology.

Battery Critical Materials

For Topic 1 Area of Interest 2, proposed improvements to separation and processing of cobalt, lithium, manganese, and synthetic graphite may include the ability to handle flexible feedstocks, i.e. technologies that can handle both raw materials.

MODIFICATION 0001: The purpose of this modification is to add general authorities that were transferred from the U.S. Bureau of Mines to the Department of Energy, on page 8 of the FOA:

“In addition, the Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1996 generally supports DOE research and development activities related to extraction, separation, and processing technologies. When the United States Bureau of Mines (BoM) was closed in 1996, Congress transferred certain BoM functions to DOE including research of the extraction, processing, use and disposal of mineral substances, and functions pertaining to mineral reclamation industries and the development of methods for the disposal, control, prevention, and reclamation of mineral waste products. See Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321-167 (1996).”

ORIGINAL ANNOUNCMENT:

Through this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) seeks to address gaps in domestic supply chains for key critical materials for clean energy technologies to:

- Enable domestic manufacturing of high energy efficiency and high energy density clean energy technologies;

- Diversify the domestic supply of critical materials; and

- Validate and demonstrate domestic innovative technologies to support the transition to U.S. manufacturing.

This will be accomplished through development of alternative next-generation technologies and field validation and demonstration of technologies that improve extraction, separation and processing. Key critical materials for energy technologies as defined in this FOA include: rare earth elements: neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb), and samarium (Sm) used in permanent magnets for electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators and high temperature applications; cobalt (Co) used in batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) and grid storage and high temperature permanent magnets; and lithium (Li), manganese (Mn) and natural graphite used in batteries (see table below).This FOA seeks to leverage the technology and capabilities developed at the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), an Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames Laboratory and managed by DOE.

For questions and answers pertaining to this FOA, please reference the DE-FOA-0002322 AMO 2020 FAQ Log at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

EERE Exchange is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. Should applicants experience problems with EERE Exchange, the following information may be helpful.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist applicants in resolving issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in late submissions: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties so severe that they are unable to submit their application by the deadline, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist the applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing submission on behalf of and with the applicant’s concurrence). Please note, network traffic is at its heaviest during the final hours and minutes prior to submittal deadline. Applicants who experience this during the final hours or minutes and are unsuccessful in uploading documents will not be able to use this process.

Modification 00001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00001 are highlighted in yellow.

The Educational Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED) funding program is a collaborative effort across EERE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and Building Technologies Office (BTO), to provide professionals with educational materials and training resources in fields newly interacting with distributed energy resources (DER). In this program, DER includes distributed solar, like on homes and businesses, as well as efficient building technologies and sustainable transportation technologies, such as electric vehicles.

The goal of this program is to create resources that will help those on the front lines of DER adoption—like first responders, safety officials, and building managers and owners—keep up with these rapidly emerging and advancing technologies. These professionals are at the forefront of America’s energy transition and play a role in easing adoption, ensuring safety, and reducing installation costs. Because of this, the participating EERE offices see these professionals as key to enabling understanding and acceptance of new energy technologies.

SETO, BTO, and VTO seek applicants that will create and integrate education and training materials for professionals who have significant involvement and authority over implementing solar, building, or vehicle technologies on the distribution system but who do not work primarily with these technologies. Those technologies include but are not limited to DER—like PV systems, building efficiency technologies, energy storage systems, AFV, EV—and EV infrastructure.

There was an informational webinar held on April 16, 2020 at 1pm EST. The slides and script are available below.

All questions regarding the content of this FOA should be submitted to Empowered-Workforce@ee.doe.gov.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE), Building Technologies Office (BTO) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) on Efficient and Flexible Building Loads.

Efficient and flexible building loads provide options to increase electricity system reliability and energy affordability, while also supporting a portfolio of generation options in grid modernization. To date, savings resulting from flexible building loads have been primarily achieved through traditional energy efficiency and demand management programs. However, advanced controls, sensors and data analytics developed over the last decade provide new ways to optimize building energy savings and energy use, by autonomously managing a variety of distributed energy resources (DER) including on-site solar panels, energy storage, electric vehicles, and various demand-side assets, while maintaining – and even improving – comfort to occupants, and contributing to a reliable, affordable grid. Substantial research and development (R&D) related to advanced controls, sensors and data analytics is underway, and additional progress is anticipated. Through this RFI, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) seeks input from industry to better understand where flexible building loads research goals can be refined to reflect market needs and inform related R&D activities.

Request for Information Categories:

Category 1: Building Technologies R&D and Integration Needs for Increased Load Flexibility

Category 2: Controls and Communication to Enhance Building-to-Grid Interactions

Category 3: Building Energy Modeling for Load Flexibility

Category 4: The Value of Flexible Building Loads

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, building owners and operators, builders, utilities, and other stakeholders on key issues related to the energy flexibility that building technologies can provide. This information will be used by BTO for strategic planning of the broader grid-interactive efficient building technologies R&D portfolio. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to RFI_GEB2019@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 pm (ET) on March 1st, 2019. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than five (5) pages in length per category of questions, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. EERE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. EERE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Modification 00001:

The purpose of this modification is to update the following:

1) Section I.B.ii – Topic 2A - Integrated Energy Production and Hydrogen Fueling R&D:

Edited: Applicants should clearly describe plans for early-stage and applied R&D and for system performance verification testing, explaining the innovation, and must include a 20% industry cost share.

2) Section IV.D.ii – Technical Volume:

Edited: Workplan and Market Transformation Plan (This section should constitute approximately 40% of the Technical Volume)

3) Section V.A.ii – Full Applications:

Edited: Criterion 2: Project Research and Market Transformation Plan (30%)

----------------------------------------------

This FOA supports research and development of key early-stage technical challenges for fuel cells and for hydrogen fuel production, delivery and storage, and will leverage the private sector to address institutional barriers that impact progress in the field. The goal of this research activity is to provide affordable, clean, safe, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, providing the benefits of increased energy security and reduced emissions through early-stage research and development.

The global fuel cell market increased its growth 40% in 2016, with revenues of over $1.6 billion in 2016 and over 20,000 fuel cell units for material handling equipment purchased in the U.S. alone since 2009. Light duty vehicles are an emerging application for fuel cells that has earned substantial commercial and government interest worldwide due to the superior efficiencies, reductions in petroleum consumption, and reductions in criteria pollutants fuel cells make possible.

The FOA topics include:

Topic 1: Energy Materials Network (EMN) - ElectroCat – this topic will leverage the Electrocatalysis Consortium (ElectroCat) to accelerate the development of catalysts made without platinum group metals for use in fuel cells for transportation. The EMN consortia have been established to make unique, world-class capabilities at the national laboratories more accessible to industry, facilitating collaborations that will expedite the development and manufacturing of advanced materials for commercial markets.

Topic 2: H2@Scale – this topic aims to improve the efficiency and resiliency of the electrical grid and of the transportation sector, and to realize gains in the various industries using or producing hydrogen. Some of the key research areas in this topic include materials compatibility, electrolyzer integration, and analysis.

Topic 3: Innovative Concepts – this topic supports applied early stage research and development of fuel cell technologies for transportation, stationary, and early market applications, with a primary focus on reducing cost and improving durability. While the main focal points of the program’s R&D portfolio are polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells and platinum-based catalysts, the program also supports longer-term technical approaches that offer advantages over PEMFCs.

To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE Exchange (this website), EERE’s online application portal.

The Exchange system enforces hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission PRIOR to the deadline, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE‐ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The Exchange helpdesk &/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (Exchange@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE‐ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

Amendment 000003 to DE-FOA-0001808

*************************************************************************************

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), this FOA entitled “FY2017 Vehicle Technologies Office Batteries and Electrification to Enable Extreme Fast Charging Funding Opportunity Announcement”.

This FOA will include two (2) areas of interest: 1) Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) Systems for Electric Vehicles and 2) Batteries for Extreme Fast Charging. These topics will be detailed in later sections of this FOA.

This FOA supports DOE’s strategic goal of protecting the U.S. national and economic security by reducing imports and promoting a diverse supply of reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy. More specifically, this FOA helps to achieve, by 2020, U.S. petroleum reduction of over 2.5 billion gallons per year through voluntary adoption of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure.

Please join us for an applicant webinar!

Date and Time

Thursday, November 2, 2017 2:00 - 3:30 PM EST

Audio

Participants can use their telephone or computer mic & speakers (VoIP).

Call-in number: +1 (631) 992-3221

Attendee Access Code (muted): 909-821-442

Audio Pin: Shown after joining the webinar

Must Register PRIOR to Webinar

Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8335201223107598594

Amendment 0001 issued on November 29, 2017 for the purpose of updating the Summary Slide Instructions and Template for use in submitting full applications.

********************************************************************

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Energy Efficiency Research and Development (R&D) for Fluid-Power Systems In Off-Road Vehicles.”

The objective of this FOA is to research technologies that can improve the energy efficiency of fluid power systems for commercial off-road vehicles . Construction, mining, and agricultrure equipment represent the majority of fuel consumption in off-road vehichles, and this equipment relies heavily on fluid-power systems (i.e. hydraulics) to actuate most of their functions. They are preferred over electric motors because of their high specific power density and ability to tolerate shock and harsh environments. However, current fluid-power systems have poor efficiency. Research in this area can provide decreased operating costs for these key domestic industries.

A public workshop on energy efficiency R&D for fluid power systems in off-road vehicles was held at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on September 12, 2017 to identify early-stage research needs. A summary of the key observations can be found at https://www.nrel.gov/transportation/mobile-fluid-power-workshop.html.

Technologies for efficiency improvement are anticipated to include, but are not limited to, new system architectures, energy storage, engineered fluid properties, advanced materials, engine technologies, and hybridization.

**********************************************************************************************************

Informational Webinar: EERE will conduct one informational webinar during the FOA process. Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions.

Title

FOA 1815-Fluid Power Systems in Off-Road Vehicles Applicant Webinar

Date and Time

Wed, Nov 1, 2017 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT

Registration URL

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7720635796163965442

Webinar ID: 698-471-411

Attendees MUST register PRIOR to Webinar.

Audio

Participants can use their telephone or computer mic & speakers (VoIP).

United States: +1 (213) 929-4232

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the webinar

Attendee - muted

Access Code: 121-730-30

The objective of the FOA is to research technologies and innovations that can improve the energy efficiency of fluid power systems for commercial off-road where fluid power systems actuate most of the functions.

The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement, number DE-FOA-0001813 entitled "Medium / Heavy Duty, On-Road Natural Gas Engine research and Development".    The objective is to address barriers to adoption of natural gas vehicles through early-stage research on medium- and heavy-duty on-road engine technologies.  The programmatic goal is to enable natural gas engines that can cost-effectively achieve diesel-like efficiency while meeting current and future emissions standards.  A complete engine development project is outside the scope of this effort, but engine subsystem research must have a plausible pathway to higher engine efficiency.  Emission control technology projects addressing criteria pollutants and GHGs are desired, with consideration that future standards are likely to influence NGV technology adoption.  Potential technologies include (but are not limited to) combustion strategies, engine subsystems, emission control systems, fuel systems, and controls.

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to the EERE Exchange website in the October 2017 timeframe.  EERE plans to issue the FOA in October 2017 via the EERE Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding the FOA, they should register in EERE Exchange. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE Exchange.

***EERE eXCHANGE has a system upgrade scheduled at 8PM ET on 2/17/2017 which will leave the system unavailable until approximately 6AM ET 2/18/2017. Since the eXCHANGE system is only scheduled to be down for a short period over a weekend night, DOE has decided not to extend the due date at this time.***

This FOA is for the research and development of low-cost hydrogen production, onboard hydrogen storage, and proton exchange membrane fuel cells to advance the widespread commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles. Selected projects will leverage national lab consortia launched under DOE’s Energy Materials Network (EMN) this past year, in support of DOE’s materials research and advanced manufacturing priorities.

The fuel cells market is growing rapidly, and has seen an annual growth rate of 30% every year since 2010 as well as $2 billion annual revenue in 2014. Light duty vehicles are an emerging application for fuel cells that already enable 95% lower petroleum consumption per mile than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Applicants to this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will collaborate with national lab consortia launched within the EMN. The EMN consortia have been established to make unique, world-class capabilities at the national laboratories more accessible to industry, facilitating collaborations that will expedite the development and manufacturing of advanced materials for commercial markets.

The FOA topics include:

Topic 1: PGM-free Catalyst and Electrode R&D – this topic will leverage the Electrocatalysis Consortium (ElectroCat) to accelerate the development of catalysts made without platinum group metals (PGM-free) for use in fuel cells for transportation.

Topic 2: Advanced Water Splitting Materials – this topic will leverage the HydroGEN Consortium to accelerate the development of advanced water splitting materials for hydrogen production, with an initial focus on advanced electrolytic, photoelectrochemical, and solar thermochemical pathways.

Topic 3: Hydrogen Storage Materials Discovery – this topic will leverage the Hydrogen Materials—Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC) to address unsolved scientific challenges in the development of viable solid-state materials for hydrogen storage onboard fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Topic 4: Precursor Development for Low-Cost, High-Strength Carbon Fiber for Use in Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Applications – this topic will aim to reduce the cost of onboard hydrogen storage necessary for FCEVs. Applicants for this topic will be encouraged to collaborate with LightMAT, a consortium launched by the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office to enable light-weighting of vehicles through the development of high-strength steels and carbon fiber.

To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE Exchange (this website), EERE’s online application portal.

The Exchange system enforces hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission PRIOR to the deadline, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (EERE‐ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (Exchange@ee.doe.gov ) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE‐ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the Exchange helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through Exchange within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) seeks input on priority areas that will advance deployment of hydrogen fueling stations and delivery infrastructure and input on barriers and activities to pursue in both the near and longer-term.

FCTO is a key component of the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. EERE seeks to provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, along with benefits of increased energy security, reduced criteria pollutants, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions; hydrogen and fuel cells are an important part of EERE’s portfolio. FCTO funds activities addressing the barriers hydrogen fueling stations face today, including renewable hydrogen fuel cost, station and equipment cost, station reliability and performance, codes and standards development, manufacturing needs, and outreach and training needs.

This is a critical time for the hydrogen market in the United States, as we are in the early commercial phases for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), hydrogen fueling stations and delivery infrastructure, and renewable production technologies. With independent data from over 6 million miles of driving FCEVs and over 163,000 kg of hydrogen dispensed, FCTO is obtaining important information to help identify key areas for further research and development and has identified specific challenges facing hydrogen infrastructure and fueling station components.

FCTO is committed to enabling successful initial commercial deployment of hydrogen fueling stations. In the recent past, FCTO has focused on increasing public-private partnerships to address immediate technical challenges, an effort that will continue through the Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology (H2FIRST) project. H2FIRST leverages capabilities at the national laboratories to address the technology challenges related to hydrogen fueling stations. Outside of infrastructure projects funded through H2FIRST, FCTO is looking to identify other strategic research, development, and demonstration pathways to lower station costs and increase the overall utilization of hydrogen in the market.

FCTO wants to address some of the barriers facing hydrogen infrastructure research, development, and deployment in the near and longer-term, listed below. Note that the following list does not include all of the barriers, but it does include many identified by both FCTO and stakeholders during an Annual Merit Review Session. Barriers to be addressed through this RFI include:
• Station and equipment cost
• Station footprint
• Station reliability and performance
• Station availability
• Lack of a domestic supply chain for equipment parts, and
• Lack of real-world business cases for FCEVs and hydrogen stations.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on the research, development, and demonstration topics.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. EERE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. EERE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FY16FCTONeedsandStrategies@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on August 26, 2016. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Research activities supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) are focused on developing technology targets for FCETs to facilitate the growth of hydrogen (H₂) and fuel cell technology. Making the transition from fossil fuel-powered to fuel cell powered trucks will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve domestic energy security, and improve air quality. The MD/HD market spans multiple weight classes (i.e. class 3-8 or 10,000-80,000+ lbs.) and vocational uses (i.e. delivery van, tractor trailer, flatbed, etc.). Today, MD/HD trucks account for 28% of petroleum use in the U.S. transportation sector [EIA 2015].

A key activity within FCTO with industry input, is setting technology targets for future years (e.g., 2020 targets) based on what is required to be competitive with incumbent or other advanced technologies. These targets can then be used by stakeholders to help track performance and set technology benchmarks. Currently, FCTO tracks technology targets for hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and fuel cells for light-duty vehicles.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from truck operators, truck and hydrogen tank manufacturers, fuel cell manufacturers, station equipment designers, and other related stakeholders on issues related to fuel cell electric truck targets. This RFI pertains to setting technology targets for fuel cell electric trucks (FCET). These targets will help drive early markets for medium and heavy duty (MD/HD) trucks which utilize hydrogen fuel cell technology.Fuel cell technology provides a means to create net zero emission vehicles (ZEV) for larger weight classes due to scalability and comparable performance to conventional powertrains.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE will not respond to questions related to this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FCTrucktargets@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on 7/11/2016. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

This is a request for information from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) concering strategies and potential pathways for cost reduction and performance improvements of composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPVs) systems for compressed hydrogen storage for onboard vehicles applications.

Currently, carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are used to make COPVs. Type III COPVs have a metallic liner and Type IV COPVs have non-metallic liners. COPVs designed to store hydrogen gas at pressures up to 700 bar are being deployed in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) currently available on the market. However, their high cost is a barrier for widespread commercial deployment of light-duty FCEVs. DOE requests information on technology strategies and pathways to reduce the cost of components of Type III and Type IV COPVs, including but not limited to the composite materials such as CF precursors, lower cost conversion processes for CF production, alternative fibers to CF, lower cost polymer resins, resin additives, etc., and other components such as liner and boss materials. In addition to strategies to reduce cost, DOE also requests information on technology strategies to improve system performance to reduce the amount of high cost composites required, designs for enhanced conformability and improved packaging, and design improvements with potential to lower cost of operation and improve performance of the refueling infrastructure (e.g., eliminate need for hydrogen pre-cooling).

The purpose of this RFI is to identify future strategic research and development pathways for the DOE to pursue with potential to meet future system cost targets. Note, this RFI is focused on COPVs which require high-strength fiber reinforced composites and is therefore differentiated by activities carried out through the EERE Vehicle Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Offices for vehicle lightweighting, which are focused on lower strength fiber reinforce composites.

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue a FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE may also elect not to issue a FOA. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. If a FOA is subsequently issued, final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of EERE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to H2Storage@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on June 30, 2016. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

***Amendment 000003 to DE-FOA-0001535***

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), this FOA entitled “Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Vehicle Technologies Multi-Topic Funding Opportunity Announcement”.

This FOA will include three (3) areas of interest: 1) Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Program, 2) Direct Injection Propane Engine and 3) Alternative Fuel Vehicle Community Partner Projects. These topics will be detailed in later sections of this FOA.

This FOA supports DOE’s strategic goal of protecting the U.S. national and economic security by reducing imports and promoting a diverse supply of reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy. More specifically this FOA helps to achieve, by 2020, U.S. petroleum reduction of over 2.5 billion gallons per year through voluntary adoption of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure.

This goal will be achieved by reducing petroleum consumption through vehicle efficiency technologies; replacing petroleum fuels with alternative fuels, non-petroleum fuel blends, and electric drive technology vehicles; and reducing petroleum consumption through idle reduction technologies as well as through reduction in personal vehicle miles traveled or other means.

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Join us for a Webinar on Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Title: DE-FOA-0001535, "Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Vehicle Technologies Multi-Topic Funding Opportunity Announcement"

Date: June 15, 2016

Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM ET

Please register prior to the webinar using the following link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6432621685191300098

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Research, Development, and Demonstrations”.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. Fuel cells powered by hydrogen from renewable or low-carbon resources can lead to substantial energy savings and reductions in imported petroleum and carbon emissions. FCTO aims to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, providing the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. FCTO accomplishes its goals by adopting a technology-neutral approach toward research, development and demonstration (RD&D) to address both key technical challenges for fuel cells and hydrogen fuels (i.e. hydrogen production, delivery and storage) and other barriers such as hydrogen codes and standards. The central mission of FCTO is to enable the widespread commercialization of a portfolio of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies through applied RD&D, and diverse efforts to overcome institutional and market challenges.

Fuel cells can address our critical energy challenges in all sectors: transportation, commercial, residential, and industrial. They can use diverse fuels, including biomass-based fuels, natural gas, and hydrogen produced from renewable resources. FCTO’s focus is primarily transportation and light-duty passenger vehicles utilizing hydrogen as an energy carrier. These areas will have the greatest impact in terms of GHG and petroleum reduction and they are aligned with the President’s goals and Climate Action Plan. However, FCTO also supports a range of other applications, including near-term markets such as distributed primary and backup power, lift trucks, and portable power; mid-term markets such as residential combined-heat-and-power (CHP) systems, and auxiliary power units; and longer-term markets such as fleet vehicles.

This FOA will provide funding to meet FCTO’s goals for Hydrogen Production and Delivery, Hydrogen Storage, Fuel Cell Technologies, Technology Validation, Manufacturing, and Analysis Programs. More detailed descriptions of the FCTO Programs, including technical and cost targets, can be found in the Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan (MYRD&D) at http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/downloads/fuel-cell-technologies-office-multi-year-research-development-and-22 . It is anticipated that up to $35M in DOE funds will be awarded under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriations.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

EERE plans to issue the FOA on or about December 10, 2015 via the EERE Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ . If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA, they should register in EERE Exchange. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE Exchange.

This is a request for information from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) concerning advanced thermal insulation for sub-ambient temperature alternative fuel storage systems. DOE requests information on how to maintain vacuum stability of systems, use of advanced composites within the systems, and accelerated test methods to determine performance and applicability of materials and systems for long-term cold and cryogenic based alternative fuel storage systems for onboard vehicle applications. Alternative fuels could include hydrogen or natural gas stored onboard the vehicle at sub-ambient temperatures as a compressed gas, liquefied gas or adsorbed onto a porous material.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE will not respond to questions related to this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to H2Storage@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm ET on 11/06/2015. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

Amendment 000004 to DE-FOA-0001237

The purpose of this amendment is to change the application due date (from August 21 to September 1) as well as to correct omissions and clarify items in response to questions received re the FOA. Affected pages are 22, 32, 33 and 35. Changes are depicted in highlighted text.

The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement an effective purchasing/procurement process designed to coordinate and consolidate bulk orders of alternative fuel vehicles, sub-components, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, and refueling/charging infrastructure to significantly reduce the incremental cost of commercially available vehicles and/or critical components in markets nationwide. The process will result in increased deployment of efficient alternative fuel vehicles and an associated reduction in reduced U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

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Join us for a Webinar on June 17, 2015
Title: FY2015 Vehicle Technologies Office Clean Cities FOA Webinar
Date: June 17, 2015
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer

Please register for FOA 1237: FY 2015 "Alternative Fuel and Advanced Vehicle Procurement Aggregating Initiatives" Applicant Webinar on Jun 17, 2015 2:00 PM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1284630170519203842

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk and or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant's concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) seeks stakeholder input on (1) the potential to optimize and/or modify small engines to utilize ethanol blends greater than 10% (E10) and (2) the barriers limiting the expansion of overall biofuel consumption in the small engine industry. The small engines of interest for this RFI are spark-ignition, internal combustion engines such as those found in small tractors, chainsaws, hand-held line trimmers, off-road motorcycles, generator sets, personal water craft, small outboard motors, snowmobiles, and all-terrain vehicles.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE will not respond to questions related to this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to BETOSmallEnginesRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm EDT on 8/30/2015. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

The eXCHANGE system enforces hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.

There will be an Informational Webinar held on March 10, 2015 from 11:00am - 12:00pm ET. Standard information regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed.

 Link to the Webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7618359203471744513

Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and other advanced vehicles offer a number of important benefits, such as fuel diversification for energy security, environmental benefits, and potential cost savings over the life of the vehicle. However, AFVs higher initial costs compared to conventional vehicles are a deployment barrier. Higher AFV and advanced technology vehicle prices can be attributed not only to manufacturers spreading costs over fewer vehicles, but also to the complexities of marketing and supplying vehicles to meet diverse local requirements and fleet needs. If vehicle fleets or consumers could purchase vehicles in larger quantities, or participate in aggregate purchasing initiatives, manufacturers and consumers could benefit from assured sales, as well as from reduced vehicle costs and lower resulting prices.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Research, Development, and Demonstrations”.  This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will cover a broad spectrum of the FCTO portfolio with topics ranging from research and development (R&D) to demonstration and deployment projects.  In particular, the R&D areas of interest for this FOA include hydrogen production via microbial biomass conversion; low PGM catalyst development for PEM fuel cell applications; development of an integrated intelligent hydrogen dispenser; and fuel cell and hydrogen manufacturing R&D focusing on hydrogen delivery pipeline manufacturing R&D.  This FOA also includes demonstration topic areas that will help to accelerate adoption of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies with specific interest in mobile hydrogen refuelers, fuel cell powered range extenders for light duty hybrid electric vehicles, and a Communities of Excellence topic featuring hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.  

The FOA will include two general Areas of Interest each with several Subtopics:

Area of Interest 1: Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies Research and Development (R&D)

1a. Hydrogen Production R&D: Microbial Biomass Conversion.

1b. Fuel Cell Technologies R&D: Low Platinum Group Metal Catalysts and Supports.

1c. Hydrogen Delivery R&D: Integrated Intelligent Hydrogen Dispensers for 700 bar Gaseous Refueling of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles.

1d. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Manufacturing R&D: Hydrogen Delivery Pipeline Manufacturing.

Area of Interest 2: Demonstration and Deployments to Enable Early Adoption of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies.

2a. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Validation: Mobile Refueling.

2b. Market Transformation: Demonstration and Deployment of Plug-In Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Light- Duty Vehicle.

2c. FCTO Crosscutting: America’s Climate Communities of Excellence.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only. EERE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all.

Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange February 2015.

This roadmap-based approach is one of EERE's greatest strengths, but it can create challenges in recognizing and exploring unanticipated, game changing pathways/approaches which may ultimately be superior to the pathways/approaches on our existing roadmaps.

To enhance the responsiveness of the roadmap approach, EERE is continuing to issue "Incubator" Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) within its existing Offices and programs to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios.  The Incubator programs will allow EERE to assess new technologies for their potential to be “on ramped” to future MYPPs.  Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates for inclusion in future program roadmaps.

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) develops and deploys efficient and environmentally-friendly highway transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum. These technologies will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment. 

For example, the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge requires dramatic improvements in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) performance and cost that are specified as technical targets and “stretch goals” for key technical areas of plug-in electric vehicles. These are detailed in the EV Everywhere Blueprint document, posted on the VTO website.

Other specific technology and technical goals can be found in supporting roadmaps and plans such as the Office's Multiyear Program Plan, U.S. DRIVE Partnership Plan; 21st Century Truck Roadmap and Technical White Papers; and other plans and roadmaps referenced on the website.

This Vehicle Technologies Incubator FOA is open to proposals that aim to bring to market a novel, non-incremental technology that facilitates one or more of the overall VTO goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios. The full spectrum of technologies and non-hardware solutions relevant to efficient and environmentally friendly transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum will be considered for funding.

The description above is meant to demonstrate the breadth of possibilities. 

The following types of applications will be deemed nonresponsive and will not be reviewed or considered:

• Commercial hardware technologies, products, and solutions;

• Incremental improvements to existing technologies, products, or solutions;

• Solutions, approaches, or technologies similar to those already being investigated through current or recent DOE projects; and

• Technologies that are not based on sound scientific principles (e.g., violates the law of thermodynamics).

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement as well as submission of applications are found in the full FOA posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website.

Join us for a Webinar on January 20, 2015

Please register for the FOA 1213 webinar prior to 12:00pm, EST on 1/20/2015 using the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8741863273498284290

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email providing a link to join the webinar and a telephone number. Audio for this webinar will be available through your computer and/or telephone. If you choose to dial-in, you will need both the Access Code (provided in your confirmation email) and the Audio Pin (shown after joining the webinar on your computer).

Title:  FY2015 Vehicle Technologies Office Incubator FOA Webinar

Date:  January 20, 2015

Time:  1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required:  Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees
Required:  Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer

The objective of this FOA is to create and implement high impact and highly innovative approaches to increase the acceptance and deployment of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs).  This will be accomplished in part by funding three different Areas of Interest (AOI) which focus on: AFV-use demonstrations via hands-on experiences, safety-related training, and emergency preparedness.

EERE anticipates that many different projects will be proposed and encourages new and innovative approaches that are projected to have a high impact.  The alternative fuel types to be addressed under this FOA are provided at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/epact/key_terms.html#alt_fuel. 

Concept Paper notifications were issued August 27th, 2014.  As a reminder, only applicants that submitted a concept paper will be eligible to submit a full application by the deadline of October 1, 2014 4:30 PM Eastern.    

Amendment 000001: Change the submission deadline for responses to this RFI from 08/07/2014 to 09/02/2014.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. EERE seeks to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, along with the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

DOE seeks input from interested stakeholders on fuel cell technology validation, commercial acceleration, and potential deployment strategies for continuous fuel cell rechargers on board light-duty electric vehicles in fleets.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FuelCellCOBRA@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 pm (EDT) on September 2, 2014. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

Amendment 000005 to DE-FOA-0000991.  

The Vehicle Technologies Office supports a broad research, development, and deployment technology portfolio focused on reducing the cost and improving the performance of a mix of near- and long-term vehicle technologies including advanced batteries, power electronics and electric motors, lightweight and propulsion materials, advanced combustion engines, advanced fuels and lubricants, and other enabling technologies.  Specifically, activities are aimed at meeting the goals and objectives of the President's Electric Vehicle Everywhere Grand Challenge as well as improvements in other vehicle technologies such as powertrains, fuel, tires, and auxiliary systems and Vehicle Technologies Office . Investment in advanced vehicle technologies, like vehicle electrification, lightweighting, and combustion engines will yield benefits to conventional vehicles, as well as yielding the technologies necessary for alternative fuel vehicles.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement contains a total of 14 areas of interest in the general areas of advanced light-weighting; advanced battery development; power electronics; advanced heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.

Amendment 000002 to DE-FOA-0000988

The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an organization focused on achieving aggressive and well-defined mid-to-long term clean energy goals for the United States of America. In that context, EERE has established multi-year plans and roadmaps. EERE focuses the majority of its resources on a limited number of "highest probability of success" pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact.

This roadmap-based approach is one of EERE's greatest strengths, which can create challenges in recognizing and exploring unanticipated, game changing pathways/approaches which may ultimately be superior to the pathways/approaches on our existing roadmaps.

To enhance the responsiveness of the roadmap approach, EERE is issuing "Incubator" Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) within its existing Offices and programs to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios.  The Incubator programs will allow EERE to assess new technologies for their potential to be “on ramped” to future MYPPs.  Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates for inclusion in future program roadmaps.

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) develops and deploys efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum. These technologies will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.  For example, the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge requires dramatic improvements in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) performance and cost that are specified as technical targets and “stretch goals” for key technical areas of plug-in electric vehicles. These are detailed in the EV Everywhere Blueprint document, posted on the VTO website. Other specific technology and technical goals can be found in supporting roadmaps and plans such as the Office's Multiyear Program Plan, U.S. DRIVE Partnership Plan; 21st Century Truck Roadmap and Technical White Papers; and other plans and roadmaps listed under the “information resources” and “plans and roadmaps” section of our website.

The VTO Incubator FOA areas of interest include but are not limited to:

· Energy Storage R&D

· Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Motors R&D

· Advanced Combustion Engine R&D

· Materials Technology

· Fuels and Lubricant Technologies

· Other – In addition to the above topic areas, this VTO Incubator FOA is open to applications that aim to bring to market a novel, non-incremental technology that facilitates one or more of the overall VTO goals.

The purpose of this modification is to change the submission deadline for responses to this RFI from 01/31/2014 to 02/28/2014.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. EERE seeks to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, along with the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

DOE seeks input on potential investment strategies from the business community and hydrogen technology stakeholders. Such strategies would address reduction in investment risk in a hydrogen supply chain, and enable robust market introduction of hydrogen supply, infrastructure and fuel cell light duty vehicles (LDV) adoption.

All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to an e-mail message addressed to FCTdeploymentstrategies@go.doe.gov. Responses must be received no later than 5:00PM EST on February 28, 2014.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

This FOA supports research and development efforts to address critical challenges and barriers for hydrogen production technology development.  The long-term goal of production and delivery research and development (R&D) is a high-volume hydrogen cost goal of $2-$4 per gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) (delivered and dispensed, but untaxed) to allow fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to be competitive on a dollar per mile basis with gasoline in hybrid electric vehicles.  More specifically, the portion of the cost goal apportioned to production is <$2/gge hydrogen.  Innovative materials, processes, and systems are needed to establish the technical and cost feasibility for renewable and low carbon hydrogen production.  With this FOA, the DOE through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office will seek to fund hydrogen production research and development projects in order to move technologies towards reaching the hydrogen production cost goal of <$2/gge. The FOA includes the following topics:

• Topic 1: Integrated or hybrid systems for central, semi-central or distributed production of low-cost, low carbon hydrogen from natural gas 
• Topic 2: Thermochemical conversion of bio-derived liquids for distributed or semi-central production of low-cost hydrogen
• Topic 3: Hydrogen production through direct solar watersplitting technologies: Advanced materials-based systems for direct solar water splitting for central or semi-central production of low-cost renewable hydrogen

02/13/14 - Modification No. 2 - Change the submission deadline for Full Applications from 02/14/2014 to 02/18/2014.

01/29/14 - Modification No. 1  - Change the submittal date for Replies to Reviewer Comments from 03/24/2014 to 03/18/2014.  

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports research and development efforts to address critical challenges and barriers for hydrogen delivery technology development.  The long-term goal of production and delivery research and development (R&D) is a high-volume hydrogen cost goal of $2-$4 per gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) (produced, delivered and dispensed, but untaxed) to allow fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to be competitive on a dollar per mile basis with gasoline in hybrid electric vehicles.  More specifically, the portion of the cost goal apportioned to delivery is <$2/gge hydrogen.  Innovative materials, components, and systems are needed to establish the technical and cost feasibility for hydrogen delivery.  With this FOA, the DOE through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) seeks to fund hydrogen delivery research and development projects in order to move technologies towards reaching the hydrogen delivery cost goal of <$2/gge by addressing the cost of hydrogen compression, storage, and dispensing at the fueling station. The FOA includes the following topics: (1) forecourt hydrogen compressors for 700 bar gaseous dispensing, (2) integrated Intelligent Hydrogen Dispensers for 700 bar Gaseous Refueling of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles and (3) forecourt hydrogen storage at 875 bar or greater.

Amendment 000003 to DE-FOA-0000793.  To view the changes associated with amendment, please refer to the FOA document below.

The mission of the Vehicle Technology Program (VTP) is to develop more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for highway transportation vehicles (cars and trucks) that will meet or exceed performance expectations and environmental requirements, and enable America to use significantly less petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The VTP focuses on highway vehicles, which account for 55 percent of total U.S. oil use ─ more than all U.S. domestic oil production.  Cost-competitive, more energy-efficient and fuel diverse vehicles will enable individuals and businesses to accomplish their daily tasks while reducing consumption of gasoline and diesel fuels. This will reduce U.S. demand for petroleum, lower carbon emissions, and decrease energy expenditures.

The VTP funds the advanced technology Research & Development (R&D) needed to achieve these goals. In the near to mid-term, transportation energy use can be reduced through improved vehicle energy efficiency from more efficient advanced combustion engines, Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), and Electric Vehicle (EV) powertrains, and through reduced vehicle weight and ancillary load requirements.

This FOA supports the President’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge with the goal of enabling U.S. companies to be the first in the world to produce electric vehicles that are as affordable for the average American family as today’s gas-powered vehicles within the next 10 years (by 2022).

Electric drive vehicles such as HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs have been identified as one important way to address the challenges of the nation’s dependence on imported oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  VTP’s specific goals in this area include enabling the use of advanced electric drive technologies in vehicles by developing low-cost batteries, advanced power electronics and electric motors, along with the development and validation of models and simulation tools to predict the performance of advanced conventional and electric-drive vehicle systems. 

Advanced materials are essential for reducing vehicle weight to boost the fuel economy of modern automobiles, while maintaining safety and performance. Replacing cast iron and traditional steel components with lightweight materials such as high-strength steel, magnesium, aluminum, and polymer composites allows vehicles to carry advanced emissions-control equipment, safety devices, and integrated electronic systems, without an associated weight penalty. Using lighter materials also reduces a vehicle’s fuel consumption, because it takes less energy to accelerate a lighter object. For example, a 10% reduction in vehicle weight can yield a 6%–8% fuel-economy improvement.

Increasing the electric operating range of electric-drive vehicles is one of the keys to achieving mass market adoption in the U.S.  High efficiency occupant heating and cooling systems have the potential to significantly increase vehicle electric driving range while providing superior occupant comfort. Because of the higher efficiency of electric-drive vehicles, auxiliary loads such as passenger cabin heating, cooling, and window defrosting/defogging have a more significant impact on efficiency than in vehicles using internal combustion engines as their primary source of power.  Improving heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is an essential component in the development of widely-accepted electric-drive vehicles.

As reflected in the FOA document, this FOA contains a total of 12 areas of interest in the general areas of advanced lightweighting and propulsion materials; advanced battery development; power electronics; advanced heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking applications that support the Vehicles Technology Program’s (VTP) general goal to develop technologies that enable cars and trucks to become highly efficient through affordable and improved drivetrain, lightweighting technologies, and cleaner domestic fuels. Specific goals of the VTP Hybrid and Electric Systems Team include enabling the use of advanced electric drive technologies in vehicle systems by developing low-cost batteries, advanced power electronics and electric motor components, and the development and validation of models and simulation tools to predict the performance, fuel economy, and emissions of advanced conventional and electric-drive vehicle systems.

The energy storage goals will be accomplished through the funding of research and development (R&D) ranging from focused, long-term research to more applied R&D.  Most of the longer term research will be done in universities and the national laboratories, but much of the more applied work will be done within the domestic battery industry.  In order to ensure that this R&D is relevant and responsive to the needs of the manufacturers of electric drive vehicles VTP believes that it is important to be able to work with and through a consortium that brings together a significant fraction of the major manufacturers of electric drive vehicles in the US.  One of the goals of this consortium would be to engage the battery manufacturers and other key stakeholders, such as universities, National Laboratories, and manufacturers and developers that supply critical materials and components to the battery industry. The research and development to be carried out under this Funding Opportunity Announcements will be an integral part of the DOE’s effort to develop advanced transportation technologies that will significantly reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, specifically by supporting R&D in the energy storage area for vehicles using electric drive components, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for the EERE eXCHANGE can be found on the EERE website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of applications is found in the full FOA posted on the EERE Exchange website.

This FOA marks the first time that the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued three Phase I solicitations in a single year.  This “Release 3” is intended to give small businesses more topics and more opportunities to apply for SBIR/STTR Phase I grants in a given year.  It includes 8 broad topics and 30 subtopics aligned with EERE programs (see below).  Detailed application instructions, including eligibility requirements, can be found on DOE’s SBIR Funding opportunities website under Reference Number DE-FOA-0000715.

EERE leads the Federal government’s research and development (R&D) efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. It invests in clean energy R&D designed to reduce the cost of technologies that enable the efficient use of energy and/or the generation of renewable energy. EERE’s SBIR/STTR efforts are part of an integrated portfolio that will lead to economic and environmental benefits. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) EERE program is interested in receiving proposals for research and development projects that offer potential for achieving EERE technology cost and performance targets.  This FOA seeks Applications to select and fund SBIR Phase I research and development (R&D) projects in the follow topics and subtopics:

1. Advanced Manufacturing:  a. Manufacturing Process  b. Advanced Materials

2. Biomass: a. Cellulosic and Algal Biofuels b. Biobased Products

3. Buildings: a. Solid State Lighting (SSL) Devices and Packages;

b. Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pumps

c. High COP Electric Water Heaters

d. GSHP Ground Loop Cost Reduction

e. Fast Payback Solar Hot Water 

f. Building Envelope Materials

g. Building Controls and

h. Commercial Building Power Meters

4. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies a. Transportation Fuel Cells b. Hydrogen Storage

5. Solar: a. PV module b. Power Electronics & Balance of System (Hardware)

c. Balance of System (Non-Hardware) and

d. Concentrating Solar Power

6. Vehicles: a. Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries; b. Exhaust Aftertreatment Materials

c. Innovative Engine Boosting Technologies

d. Differential Compression and Expansion Technologies

e. Subsystem Component Technologies

f. Thermoelectric Technologies

g. Materials for Traction Drive Motor Laminations, Cores, or Structures and

h. Engine Friction Reduction

7. Water: a. Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy b. Hydropower Applications

8. Wind: a. Logistics for Land-Based Wind Power

The Department of Energy’s (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking applications that address and assist in reducing multiple barriers to alternative fuel vehicle adoption and use.  Overall, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), issued on behalf of EERE by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), aims to decrease the nation’s dependence on petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the deployment of alternative fuels.  Efforts should focus only on the alternative fuels defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and further augmented by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 

The expanded use of alternative fuel vehicles and domestically produced alternative transportation fuels can create and retain jobs, stimulate and support domestic economies, and help protect the environment. The Clean Cities program has identified the following four critical areas that provide significant obstacles to alternative fuel vehicle use: 1) Policies, 2) Barrier Reduction, 3) Safety and Training, and 4) Market Development/Outreach.  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program wishes to fund projects that target and remedy these specific obstacles to alternative fuel vehicle adoption and use in local, regional and/or statewide sectors and niche markets. 

Please note, the application due date has been extended to July, 20, 2012. 

With this FOA, DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Program seeks applications for projects to demonstrate and deploy fuel cell hybrid ground support equipment (GSE) vehicles at airport and/or air freight distribution center sites. Packaged solutions for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems (5 to 20 kW) fueled by hydrogen with the ability to power a baggage tow tractor with 3,000 to 6,000 pounds (1,362 to 2,722 kg) towing capability for a minimum of 10 hours of continuous operation and 5000 total hours are sought.  Applications must focus on developing, deploying, and validating systems in the field under real world operating conditions. The target market is commercial airports and air freight distribution centers used by passenger airlines and air freight industries. Approximately $2,500,000 in FY 2012 DOE funding is expected to be available for new awards under this announcement. DOE anticipates making 1-3 awards under this announcement depending on the size of the awards.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program, is seeking applications that will lead to computational modeling advances and development of lightweight alloys for lightweighting and propulsion applications. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) includes three (3) Areas of Interest; Area of Interest 3 includes two (2) subtopics. Areas of Interest are indentified below:

Area of Interest 1:  Predictive Engineering Tools for Injection Molded Long Carbon Fiber Thermoplastic Composites

Area of Interest 2:  Integrated Computation Materials Engineering (ICME) Development of Advanced Steel for Lightweight Vehicles

Area of Interest 3:  Advanced Alloy Development for Automotive and Heavy-Duty Engines

3a) Lightweight Cast Alloy Development for Light Duty Automotive Engine Applications

3b) High Strength Cast Alloy Development for Heavy-Duty On-Road Engine Applications

NOTE: The FOA has been updated to incorporate Amendment 001 Amendment 002, Amendment 003, discussed below:

Amendment 001 to this FOA was processed on 04/13/2012. The FOA was revised to include an additional criterion under the Project Approach for Area of Interest 1, Area of Interest 2, and Area of Interest 3, respectively. See Section V, Part A. 2. Merit Review Criteria.

Amendment 002 to this FOA was processed on 04/23/2012. The FOA was revised to remove the section entitled "Subrecipient Effort" contained in Part III, Section C, Other Eligibility Requirements.

Amendment 003 to the FOA was processed on 05/04/2012. The FOA was revised to further define, clarify, and update specific clauses in the FOA. 

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.  Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award.  The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website.  A User Guide can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system. 

Fuel cells can lead to substantial energy savings and reductions in imported petroleum and carbon emissions.  To realize these benefits, DOE’s FCT Program focuses on funding fuel cell research and development (R&D) and technology validation activities supporting a portfolio of fuel cell technologies and applications.  This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which specifically supports the Technology Validation program element, will collect, analyze, and validate performance data from light-duty hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) operating in real-world environments. Feedback will be provided to the DOE hydrogen and fuel cell R&D projects and industry partners to help determine what additional R&D is required to move the technology forward.

With this FOA, DOE is accepting new applications for projects seeking to validate light-duty fuel cell electric vehicle performance and durability.  The objective of each proposed project must be to collect and submit dynamometer and real-world vehicle performance data to a DOE-sponsored third-party collection and analysis provider to provide statistically valid projections on key metrics including durability of fuel cell systems.  R&D of these technologies is not the focus of this effort and will not be funded through this announcement.