Funding Opportunities

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeks applications to address technical challenges in algal systems that currently limit expansion of algae as a domestic bioenergy resource. The MASY NOFO will support high-impact, applied R&D focused on relieving ‘pinch points’ in algal system cultivation and preprocessing, with the goal of improving process economics for biofuels and/or bioproducts.

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

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY25BETOMASYNOFO@ee.doe.gov.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 2/21/2025 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 5/15/2025 at 5PM ET.

As stated in the Notice of Intent (search DE-FOA-0003517 in eXCHANGE), a Teaming Partner List has been compiled to encourage collaboration and facilitate the formation of new project teams. Visit: TPL-0000064 Teaming Partner List for DE-FOA-0003517 NOI to Publish DE-FOA-0003518 and DE-FOA-0003520

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 Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), two Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs):

1. DE-FOA-0003518, entitled “Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC)”; and

2. DE-FOA-0003520, entitled “Maximizing Algal System Yield (MASY).”

These NOFOs support BETO’s research and development (R&D) priorities in the areas of (a) Conversion and (b) Renewable Carbon Resources (RCR).

It is anticipated that the NOFOs may include the following Areas of Interest:

DE-FOA-0003518 SPARC NOFO: Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals

SPARC NOFO Topic Area 1: Bio-based Chemicals

Producing chemicals from renewable feedstocks helps to secure domestic supply chains, support rural economies, and improve sustainability in the industry. However, adoption of new chemical production pathways is challenging due to complex supply chains with many different stakeholders and the need for extensive product quality testing for new processes.

SPARC NOFO Topic Area 2: Bio-based Propane/LPG

SPARC Topic Area 2 seeks to develop new production pathways to produce sustainable liquefied propane and/or petroleum gases from a variety of biomass and waste resources including municipal waste, agricultural residues, forest resources and fats, oils, and grease. Topic Area 2 will support multiple conversion routes to produce propane and LPG.

DE-FOA-0003520 MASY NOFO: Maximizing Algal System Yield

The MASY NOFO seeks applications to address ’pinch points’ in algal system operations that currently limit expansion of algae as a domestic bioenergy feedstock. Developing algal systems that use photosynthetic growth of algae (micro-, macro-, and cyanobacteria) is an important component of BETO’s strategy.

EERE plans to issue the NOFOs in or around January 2025 via the EERE eXCHANGE website https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov/. If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding these NOFOs, they should register in EERE eXCHANGE. When the NOFOs are released, applications will be accepted only through EERE eXCHANGE.

Amendment 000001:  Extend the Full Application submission deadline from January 16th, 2025 at 5:00PM ET to January 31st, 2025 at 5:00PM ET to allow sufficient time for development during end of calendar year activities. Adjusted all proceeding dates, such as Reply to Reviewer Comments, by an equal amount of time. Adjusted award notification dates for Research, Technology, and Economic Security review.• Updated Table 3 to align the Allowable Fuel Types with Table 1.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0003371 FY24 Scale-up of Integrated Biorefineries supports higher risk bioenergy technologies that are ready to scale, ultimately demonstrating feedstock-conversion variations, or production pathways, to support commercialization and meet the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge goal of 35 billion gallons per year of SAF production by 2050 and the Clean Fuels and Products Shot goal of 50% projected demand for maritime, rail, off-road, and renewable carbon-based chemicals by 2050.

The activities to be funded under this FOA will support the advancement of cost-shared research, development, and demonstration projects with partners in industry, academia, and the National Laboratories focused on the design, construction, operation, and validation of new technology and feedstock pathways for engineering scale integrated biorefineries. The intent of this FOA is to reduce technology uncertainty and risk through cost-shared pilot- and demonstration-scale biorefinery projects. The FOA would support BETO’s multi-year strategic goals to 1) decarbonize the transportation sector through the production of cost-effective SAF and other strategic fuels, and 2) decarbonize the industrial sector through cost-effective and sustainable chemicals, materials, and processes utilizing biomass and waste resources.

Topic Area 1 will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing project definition, development, and execution plans for the scaling of pre-pilot (TRL 5) biofuel technologies to pilot scale (TRL 6).

Topic Area 2 will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing project definition, development, and execution plans for the scaling of pilot (TRL 6) biofuel technologies to demonstration scale (TRL 7-8).

Topic Area 3 supports scale-up activities to produce organic chemicals from renewable biomass and waste feedstocks that can replace those currently derived from petroleum. Topic Area 3 will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing project definition, development, and execution plans for the scaling of pre-pilot and pilot (TRL 5-6) biochemical technologies to pilot and demonstration scale (TRL 6-8).

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY24BETOScale-Up@ee.doe.gov

See the full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 11/07/2024 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 01/31/2025 at 5PM ET.

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.

Amendment 000001 - The RFI has been amended to provide additional time for interested parties to respond. The new submission deadline is September 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET. 

Description

Wood is an important renewable source of fuel for residential heat, with 10% of American households (approximately 13 million) burning wood for heat and 2% using wood as their primary heat source. Although wood heaters provide a small percentage of energy used in residences in the United States, the devices are a substantial source of particulate matter emissions. These emissions contain fine particulate matter (PM) along with other pollutants, including carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxic air pollutants (e.g., benzene and formaldehyde), and black carbon. Improvements in the design and automation of wood heaters have the potential to significantly reduce emissions and increase efficiency. In addition to wood heater design, proper installation and operation also determine the level of emissions and efficiency of residential wood heaters.
As innovation has driven the improved performance of residential wood stoves, they have become more efficient and cleaner burning, as proven by laboratory certification tests. Measuring stoves’ performance as they burn in residences with real user behavior (in-situ) will give more insight into the stoves’ efficiency as well as the indoor and outdoor air quality. Collecting in-situ data will provide both industry and government with information to guide further innovation of cleaner and more efficient wood stoves and the best use of renewable wood feedstocks.

Background

Since fiscal year 2019 the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), an element of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), has been the steward of funds to support the development of cleaner burning, higher efficiency residential wood heaters. These funds have supported topics in Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA), Wood Heater Design Challenge (WHDC) competition, a FY23 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) call, and a series of workshops held in 2022. A recommendation from the March 2022 workshop series was to focus on the in-situ testing of wood heaters to better understand their actual performance as influenced by many factors, including but not limited to operator control, chimney design, climate, and wood quality. This RFI seeks further input from stakeholders to define the goals and objectives for a planned effort to collect in-situ wood heater performance data.

Purpose

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues and considerations related to testing residential wood stoves in-situ to enable the development of cleaner, more efficient wood heaters. The planned in-situ field data collection effort will monitor wood heater performance in operation by the homeowner rather than an imposed duty cycle in a laboratory environment. EERE is specifically interested in input in identifying the most important parameters to measure, considerations of in-situ test design, data collection methods, operator behavior, and other input surrounding in-situ testing.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA. EERE is not accepting applications.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to woodheat@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on September 30, 2024. 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.

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

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is requesting information and feedback on areas relating to activities in the Conversion Research & Development (R&D) Program. This RFI is focused on understanding the supply chains for production and uses of renewable propane and other renewable gaseous intermediates. Specifically, DOE would like to understand the potential for R&D to increase the viability of renewable propane to pursue new production pathways to sustainable aviation fuel and other high-impact products from municipal waste; agricultural residue; forest resources; and fats, oils, and greases.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industrial entities that currently produce, or are considering producing, renewable propane and other renewable gaseous intermediates. EERE is specifically interested in information on the costs and benefits to a refinery that hydroprocesses biogenic fats, oils, and greases of utilizing renewable propane produced in situ as process energy compared to separation and recovery of the renewable propane for sale externally in the propane market.

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 RenewablePropaneRFI@ee.doe.govno later than 5:00p.m. (ET) on August 5, 2024. 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. Preferred responses should be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) (10 page limit) and/or Microsoft Excel (.xslx) attachments to the email. If necessary, a plain text file (.txt) may be submitted. 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.

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

Amendment 000001 - Extending the Full Application Submission Deadline to July 18, 2024, updating Expected Date for DOE Selection Notifications, and updating the Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations. Additionally, the expected number of awards in Topic Area 1 has been updated.

Building a clean and equitable 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 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. This FOA is funded by two Department of Energy (DOE) offices: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Carbon Conversion Program.

BETO’s primary focus is on developing technologies that convert domestic biomass and/or waste resources to affordable biofuels and bioproducts that significantly reduce carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis as compared to equivalent petroleum-based products. These bioenergy technologies can enable a transition to a clean energy economy, create high-quality jobs, support rural economies, and spur innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. The activities funded by BETO through this funding opportunity will mobilize public clean energy investment by addressing research and development (R&D) challenges in the conversion of various seaweeds and blends of seaweeds (with wet waste feedstocks such as waste microalgae) to low-carbon fuels and chemicals. These activities can also help develop solutions for communities that are affected by harmful algal blooms to reduce the costs associated with managing these wastes.

The priority of FECM’s Carbon Conversion Program is to develop multiple pathways by which captured and concentrated carbon dioxide (CO₂) is converted into economically viable and environmentally sustainable products. The near-term objective of this program’s R&D is to accelerate deployment of carbon management technologies through the conversion of CO2 into value-added products. Under this FOA, applications are sought that use anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions in the cultivation process and then convert macro and/or micro algae into low carbon products. Conversion for agricultural products such as animal feed are of particular interest.

Algae is a promising type of renewable biomass-based feedstock with the potential to contribute to BETO’s and FECM’s missions and help meet the aggressive clean energy goals being pursued by DOE. For purposes of this FOA, “algae” includes microalgae, cyanobacteria, and macroalgae (also referred to as seaweed). All types of algae may be of interest to this FOA, subject to the topic-specific requirements described in each Topic Area.

• Topic Area 1: Conversion of Seaweeds to Low-Carbon Fuels and Bioproducts
• Topic Area 2: Conversion of Algal Biomass for Low-Carbon Agricultural Bioproducts

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

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.

Please view the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 05/10/2024 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 6/27/2024 at 5PM ET.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO) and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled MACRO: “Mixed Algae Conversion Research Opportunity”.

If issued, this FOA will support BETO’s research and development (R&D) priorities in the Conversion Technologies Program and FECM’s R&D priorities in the Carbon Dioxide Conversion Program. BETO’s Conversion Technologies Program supports R&D in technologies for converting biomass feedstocks into finished liquid transportation fuels—such as renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel along with co-products or chemical intermediates. FECM’s Carbon Dioxide Conversion Program invests in R&D of technologies that convert captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) into economically valuable products such as chemicals, fuels, building materials, plastics, and bioproducts.

The R&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. A diverse range of feedstocks will be required to reach the Biden Administration’s goals 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.”[1]

Seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, represent a significant biomass resource potential of 3.3 billion dry metric tons that will be newly described in BETO’s upcoming Billion Ton Report. Rapid growth of the seaweed cultivation industry, in part inspired by the DOE ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy) MARINER (Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources) program efforts, has spurred new interest in working with seaweeds as a renewable biomass feedstock. Due to the expansion of domestic cultivation and the potential of seaweeds to contribute to DOE’s mission areas, this announcement is the first time BETO and FECM have specifically called for research into converting seaweeds to fuels and products.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Topic Areas:

Topic Area 1: Conversion of Seaweeds and Waste Algae to Low Carbon Fuels and Products

Topic Area 1 aims to address gaps in storage, mobilization, and conversion of seaweeds and other wet algal feedstocks to low-carbon products and enable these readily available feedstocks to access new markets. Applications would be sought that will develop laboratory or bench scale technologies and/or processes for utilizing: macroalgae (seaweeds); blends of macroalgae and wet wastes, and/or wet algal wastes for conversion to fuels and products with significant, on a national scale, potential to displace fossil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Applications will be required to demonstrate that the utilization of these feedstocks to generate products at commercial scale has the potential of at least 50% GHG reductions compared to conventional fuel and/or products.

Topic Area 2: Conversion of Algal Biomass for Low Carbon Agricultural Products

The goal of Topic Area 2 is to utilize carbon dioxide emissions streams from utilities or industrial sources to grow algae for source material and create value-added products. Applications would be sought that use anthropogenic (e.g., fossil fuel derived) carbon dioxide emissions to be used in the algae cultivation process and then convert those macro- and/or micro algae into low-carbon agricultural applications or products such as animal feed. Applications will be encouraged to focus on optimization of the technologies and processes for the conversion of cultivated algae biomass to products and clearly describe the end use products targeted. Applications will be required to show a reduction in CO₂ emissions through life cycle analysis and demonstrate that the targeted products provide benefits compared to current, commercially available products. Applications proposing animal feed as products should describe requirements for necessary testing or demonstrations of the resulting product. Developing successful conversion technologies can further improve, the economics and carbon utilization efficiencies of these products, resulting in additional market share that encourages further algae biomass cultivation and carbon dioxide utilization.

Please note: If a FOA is published, DOE’s government-owned, government-operated (GOGO) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will not be eligible for award under the FOA and may not be proposed as a Subrecipient on another entity’s application. An application that includes NETL as a Prime Recipient or Subrecipient will be considered non-responsive. Additionally, DOE/NNSA and non-DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) will be restricted from applying for funding as a Prime Recipient but are eligible to participate as a Subrecipient. The FFRDC effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 50% of the total estimated cost of the project, including the applicant’s and the FFRDC’s portions of the effort.

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 in or around March 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.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Regional Resource Hubs for Purpose-Grown Energy Crops”.

If issued, this FOA will support the Bioenergy Technologies Office’s research and development (R&D) priorities in the area of Renewable Carbon Resources (RCR). The RCR subprogram develops science and engineering-based strategies and technologies to cost-effectively transform renewable carbon resources into high-quality, environmentally sustainable, conversion-ready feedstocks for biofuels and bioproducts. These strategies and technologies are designed to improve the efficiency, sustainability, and reliability of feedstock production, harvesting or collection, storage, preprocessing, and transportation, and identify the key feedstock quality and operational variables for conversion performance.

Developing a domestic supply chain of purpose-grown energy crops is critical to decarbonizing the U.S. transportation and industrial sectors and can contribute to decarbonization of adjacent sectors of the economy, such as the agricultural and power sector. The Regional Resource Hubs for Purpose-Grown Energy Crops FOA will address the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization by funding high-impact R&D focused on mobilizing low carbon intensity, purpose-grown energy crops. These crops will support the Clean Fuels and Products Shot™ and contribute to the 2050 sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production targets of the SAF Grand Challenge. In order to verify greenhouse gas benefits and encourage grower adoption and deployment, long-term yield and sustainability of production crop varieties need to be demonstrated along with the agricultural and silvicultural practices that can provide low carbon intensity feedstocks for the production of renewable fuels and products.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Area of Interest:

Area of Interest (AOI) 1: Purpose-Grown Energy Crops

The goal of this AOI will be to demonstrate the long-term yield and sustainability of purpose-grown energy crops across varied agronomic and geographic landscapes that will accelerate feedstock supply chain development through the generation of data for use by analysts, policy makers, and industry. Verification and validation of the effectiveness of improved agronomic practices on reducing the carbon intensity of biomass resources across multiple regions, feedstock types, and growing seasons will also be essential to meet the 85% GHG emission reduction goal of the Clean Fuels and Products Shot™ compared to fossil-based sources by 2035. Feedstocks of interest include, but are not limited to, algae (microalgae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria), herbaceous crops (switchgrass, miscanthus, energy cane, sweet sorghum, and high-biomass sorghum), short-rotation woody crops (hybrid poplars and shrub willows), and intermediate crops (carinata, pennycress, and camelina). Each application selected from this FOA will become a member of the Regional Biomass Resource Hub Initiative that will work together with DOE’s established Regional Biomass Resource Hub Initiative Coordinator, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to coordinate experimental plans, report data, and collectively achieve the FOA objectives. Selected projects will be mapped to a Regional Biomass Resource Hub (RBRH) based on the proposed feedstock(s) and region(s) included in their application.

Please note: Due to INL’s role as Initiative Coordinator and involvement in FOA strategy discussions, INL is not eligible to apply for funding as a Prime Recipient under the FOA and may not be proposed as a Subrecipient on another entity’s application. Any application that includes INL as a Prime Recipient or Subrecipient will be deemed ineligible, non-responsive, and will not be further considered.

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 in or around 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.

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.

** PLEASE NOTE **  Amendment 000002 - Update the Full Application Submission deadline and the Replies to Reviewer Comments deadline.

Amendment 000001 - Update to Appendix H to remove restriction of grain starch for bioproduct generation. Grain starch is allowed for bioproduct generation.

As stated in the Notice of Intent (search DE-FOA-0002909 in eXCHANGE), a Teaming Partner List has been compiled to encourage collaboration and facilitate the formation of new project teams. Visit:

The 2023 Conversion Research and Development FOA supports a main theme core to the BETO Conversion Program’s R&D mission: developing technologies to enable the conversion of waste and renewable resources to fuels and products with substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions compared to the petroleum incumbent. The FOA addresses two specific technology pathways intended to develop improved technologies for generating clean syngas for upgrading to fuels as well as pathways for renewable chemical production. Each Topic Area seeks to reduce economic and technical risk, enabling BETO to help pave the way for industry to commercialize technologies that may reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation.

Significant R&D is required to reach the ultimate goal of affordable, low-carbon transportation fuels and chemical products. The R&D activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to addressing the climate crisis by driving innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies. The Topic Areas in this FOA seek to address the following R&D needs:

· R&D on gasification technologies, with an emphasis on syngas contaminant removal approaches that enable effective upgrading of products derived from gasification of renewable resources to liquid transportation fuels.

· R&D on microbial conversion of renewable resources into chemical products, with an emphasis on processes with commercialization potential.

Topic Area 1: Overcoming Barriers to Syngas Conversion

The goal of this Topic Area is to improve the economics and reliability of gasification and syngas cleanup systems by eliminating technical barriers for conversion of renewable carbon and waste feedstocks to low carbon fuels. While upgrading syngas has been widely investigated, additional challenges remain due to process complexity and feedstock limitations associated with syngas cleanup. Projects selected from this Topic Area will facilitate conversion of acceptable biomass and waste feedstocks into SAF with a 70% reduction in lifecycle GHG emissions.

Topic Area 2: Opportunities for Decarbonization of the Chemicals Industry Through Biocatalysts

Subtopic 2a: Opportunities for Decarbonization of the Chemicals Industry Through Biocatalysts: This Subtopic seeks applications that are focused on engineering microbial hosts or biological (i.e., cell-free) systems to maximize production metrics, such as titer, rate, and/or yield, of a product of interest. Applicants should describe how the improvements they propose move the technology toward commercial relevance; applications will specifically be evaluated as to the likelihood that their technology improvement accelerates commercialization in the near term (~10 years).

Subtopic 2b: Commercialization Opportunities for Decarbonization of the Chemicals Industry Through Biocatalysts: This Subtopic seeks applications that aim to improve biochemical production capabilities, with a focus on bioprocess improvements and integration at a larger scale. This includes projects targeting fermentation development and scale up as well as producing volumes of product required for validation with partners; such industrial partnerships should be clearly described.

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

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY23conversionFOA@ee.doe.gov.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 04/21/2023 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 06/23/2023 at 5PM ET.

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.

For the 2023 Conversion R&D FOA (DE-FOA-0002946) only, the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of new project teams under the Notice of Intent NOI DE-FOA-0002909.

This Teaming Partner List is being made available to facilitate the widest possible national participation in the formation of applicant teams for the potential Conversion R&D FOA. The List allows organizations who may wish to participate on an application to express their interest to other applicants and explore potential partnerships, including representation from Minority Serving Institutions (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)/Other Minority Serving Institutions); partnerships with Minority Business Enterprises, Minority Owned Businesses, Woman Owned Businesses, Veteran Owned Businesses, and tribal nations); and workforce education, training, and development or labor organizations. This list may also help support connections between researchers from non-profit organizations and potential industrial cost share partners.

Please include information about your organization type/characteristics in the “Background, Interest, Capabilities” field in Exchange to help other participants identify your capabilities.

Amendment 000001 - The purpose of this amendment is to modify the announcement document to correct an error by removing all references to the Letter of Intent phase of the application process, as it is not required for this FOA. See FOA DE-FOA-0002910/000001 for details.

Reducing Agricultural Carbon Intensity and Protecting Algal Crops (RACIPAC)

DE-FOA-0002910

The Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Renewable Carbon Resources (RCR) program develops science-based strategies and technologies to cost-effectively transform renewable carbon resources such as agricultural waste and algae into high-quality, environmentally sustainable, conversion-ready feedstocks for biofuels and bioproducts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), through two distinct topic areas – the first focused on climate-smart agricultural practices and the second on algae crop protection – supports BETO’s RCR Program’s strategies for the development of conversion-ready feedstocks for biofuels and bioproducts and supports the Biden Administration’s goal to produce sustainable aviation fuels.

Climate-smart agricultural practices, such as conservation tillage, cover crops, nutrient management, and soil amendments (e.g., biochar applications), are promising approaches to reduce carbon intensity and improve sustainable production of biomass resources. Topic Area 1 projects will assess the efficacy of climate-smart agricultural practices that reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of biomass feedstocks for biofuels. Implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices is essential to produce low CI feedstocks, particularly from agricultural residues to enable sustainable aviation fuel production with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Topic Area 1, Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices for Low Carbon Intensity Feedstocks, has two subtopic areas:

· Subtopic Area 1a: Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices to Produce Low CI Feedstocks Derived from Agricultural Residues, and

· Subtopic Area 1b: Biochar Strategies to Increase Soil Carbon Levels and Agronomic Benefits of Crops for Energy Production

Cultivating algae (micro-, macro-, and cyanobacteria) and converting it to biofuels and bioproducts is an important component of BETO’s strategy for enabling the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). One of the major cost contributors of producing algae is biomass loss due to predation, competition, and pest infestations. Developing effective strategies to protect algal biomass production is essential to meeting BETO’s long-term goals of decarbonizing the transportation and industrial sectors via cost competitive algal-derived biofuels and bioproducts. Topic Area 2, Algae Crop Protection, focuses on developing crop protection methods and strategies for algae cultivation systems.

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY23BETORACIPACFOA@ee.doe.gov.

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 03/20/2023 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 05/16/2023 at 5PM ET.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs):

1. DE-FOA-0002910, entitled "Reducing Carbon Intensity and Protecting Algal Crops (RACIPAC)” and

2. DE-FOA-0002946, entitled “2023 Conversion R&D FOA."

These FOAs support the Bioenergy Technologies Office’s research and development (R&D) priorities in the areas of (a) Renewable Carbon Resources (RCR) and (b) Conversion. Specifically, the RACIPAC FOA will support high-impact R&D focusing on reducing the carbon intensity of agricultural feedstocks, improving soil carbon levels, and protecting cultivated algal crops from pests. The Conversion R&D FOA will support development of technologies that convert domestic lignocellulosic biomass and waste resources including industrial syngas into affordable biofuels and bioproducts that significantly reduce carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis (minimum of 70% decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions), compared to equivalent petroleum-based products.

The R&D activities to be funded under both FOAs support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving innovations that lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies. These FOAs will advance President Biden’s Administration’s goals 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.“¹ R&D activities funded from these FOAs provide routes to transform renewable carbon resources such as agricultural residues and algae into high-quality, environmentally sustainable, conversion-ready feedstocks and to develop and deploy the conversion technologies for the production of chemicals and fuels with >70% reduction in GHG emissions. Additionally, these FOAs will support the President’s goal to produce 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) per year and reduce aviation emissions by 20% by 2030, both of which will unlock the potential for a fully zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050.

It is anticipated the FOAs may include the following Areas of Interest:

1. Reducing Agricultural Carbon Intensity and Protecting Algal Crops FOA (RACIPAC):

Area of Interest (AOI) 1: Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices for Low Carbon Intensity (CI) Feedstocks

Area of Interest 2: Algae Crop Protection

2. 2023 Conversion R&D FOA:

Area of Interest 1: Overcoming Barriers to Syngas Conversion

Area of Interest 2: Strategic Opportunities for Decarbonization of the Chemicals Industry Through Biocatalysts

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 January 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 Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is seeking information to better understand the barriers to deploying onsite clean energy and storage technologies at industrial facilities and pathways for accelerated adoption. These technologies include, but are not limited to, solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal, wind power, renewable fuels, geothermal, bioenergy, battery storage, and thermal storage technologies. This request for information (RFI) is focused on understanding the current state of knowledge and uptake of these technologies by industrial energy users, opportunities and barriers for technology integration at industrial facilities, existing technical assistance and resources available for technology evaluation and deployment, and pathways to accelerate the adoption of onsite clean energy technologies.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, utilities, and other stakeholders on issues related to the deployment of onsite clean energy and storage technologies, including solar, solar thermal, wind power, renewable fuels, geothermal, battery storage, and thermal storage, at industrial facilities. EERE is specifically interested in information on the key barriers that manufacturers are encountering during technology evaluation and implementation of clean energy projects. EERE is also interested in the current state of knowledge and uptake of onsite clean energy technologies, existing technical assistance and resources for project evaluation and deployment, and potential pathways for accelerating the integration of clean energy technologies in the industrial sector. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

Amendment 000002 - The purpose of this amendment is to modify Subtopic Area 2B Metrics to replace “reduction in variability” with “extension of performance”. And under the third bullet in Subtopic Area 2b Specific Requirements, replace “variability” with “duration”. See FOA DE-FOA-0002636/000002 for details.

Amendment 000001 - The purpose of this amendment is to modify Appendix G to correct an error to allow the following feedstocks for Topic Area 3: Syngas (derived from other allowable feedstocks). See FOA DE-FOA-0002636/000001 for details.

This FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement) supports two priority areas in the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) research and development (R&D) portfolio. The first of these priority areas addresses new strategies for energy and resource recovery from waste streams. Waste streams including municipal solid waste, animal manure, wastewater residuals and other organic wastes have been identified as a key feedstock for the production of biofuels and bioproducts. These wastes represent significant environmental liabilities in the forms of fugitive methane emissions, air and water quality impacts, and odors, amongst others. These wastes also disproportionately are cited in disadvantaged communities leading to a multitude of health impacts on the surrounding populations. There are also significant costs associated with the management of these waste streams including treatment, hauling, and disposal or tipping fees. These economic factors make these waste streams an economic liability to the communities managing them but also a cost-advantaged feedstock for the production of biofuels and bioproducts.

The second priority area addressed by this FOA targets improved organisms and inorganic catalysts. BETO’s Conversion R&D Program has identified process robustness as a key challenge that must be addressed prior to scale-up. This includes the development of more robust organisms and catalytic processes for the conversion of sustainable feedstocks and intermediates into biofuels and bioproducts. Topic Area 2 of this FOA (including subtopics 2a and 2b) seeks technologies to improve the economic viability of microbial production processes by improving the productivity and robustness of the engineered microorganisms. Topic Area 3 focuses on inorganic catalyst development and investigating catalyst robustness and the mitigation of negative impacts or impurities found in bio-derived streams. Topic Areas 2 and 3 will ultimately improve the economics of sustainable biofuels production to realize cost goals of under $2.50/gallon by 2030 and to enable more processes that are capable of producing sustainable aviation fuel and meet the White House’s goal of reducing aviation emissions by 20% by 2030.

Topic Area 1: MSW Feedstock Technologies

Topic Area 2: Robust Microbial Cells

Topic Area 3: Robust Catalytic Processes

Topic Area 4: Community Scale Resource and Energy Recovery from Organic Wastes

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY22FeedstockConversionFOA@ee.doe.gov.

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. This FOA specifically seeks to increase the carbon utilization efficiency of algal growth systems. The impact of this FOA outcomes will be to lower the cost of fuels and products made from algal feedstocks while increasing the positive greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts that can be achieved through the deployment of algae-based technologies.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) has two topic areas, each funded separately by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Carbon Utilization Program (CUP) in response to specific language in each Office’s respective appropriations as issued by Congress and in accordance with each Office’s strategic plans.

Under this funding opportunity, BETO is interested in the following Topic Areas:

Topic Area 1: Carbon Utilization Efficiency from Biomass- or Atmospheric-Based Sources of Carbon Dioxide

Topic Area 2: Algae-Based Technology to Utilize Anthropogenic CO2 from Utility and Industrial Sources

An informational webinar will be held on February 17^th, 2022 at 3:00 PM ET. Please note, there are no particular advantages or disadvantages to the application evaluation process with respect to participating in the webinar. Your participation is completely voluntary. The webinar may be accesed via this link: Feb 17th Informational Webinar

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY22CarbonUtilizationFOA@ee.doe.gov.

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 03/18/2022 at 5PM ET. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 05/27/2022 at 5PM ET.

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

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to Microbial Cell and Catalyst Robustness, and State-of Technology Analyses. This information is necessary for DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) to plan appropriate Conversion Research and Development activities and to ensure that techno-economic and life-cycle analyses remain valuable for the research and industrial community.

EERE is specifically interested in information about:

Category 1: Improving Robustness of Microbial Cells

Category 2: Improving Robustness of Catalytic Processes

Category 3: State of Technology (SOT) Analyses in the BETO Research 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 FY22ConversionRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on March 11, 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 6 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

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

This RFI seeks input from biofuels producers and technology developers about their readiness to scale process technologies to pilot- and demonstration-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel and renewable marine fuels. This information is necessary for DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) to chart the potential growth of domestic renewable fuels production by 2030 and to understand the barriers in scaling renewable fuel production pathways. This RFI also seeks information on how DOE can best assist biofuels production stakeholders in their research and development (R&D) and scaling up of their technologies through demonstration scale.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to the scale-up of renewable fuel production technologies. EERE is specifically interested in information about:

Category 1 - Biofuel Pathway Scale-up Forecasts

Category 2 - Barriers to Scale-up of SAF, Marine, and Renewable Diesel Technologies

Category 3 - Leveraging First Generation Ethanol and Other Incumbent Industries

Category 4 - BETO Scale-up of Biotechnologies Strategy

Category 5 - Leveraging National Laboratory Process Development Units (PDU) to Scale-up Renewable Fuels

Category 6 - Feedstock Production & Supply

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 Biofuels_FY22_RFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on January 31, 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.

In addition to providing written responses to this RFI, respondents may request a 30-minute individual discussion with a BETO staff member regarding the content of their written responses to the RFI questions. Similarly, if a respondent is unable to submit written responses, or would otherwise prefer to do so, he/she may request a 30-minute individual discussion with a BETO staff member to verbally provide responses to the RFI questions. If a respondent wishes to participate in an individual discussion for either of these reasons, please submit your request to Biofuels_FY22_RFI@ee.doe.gov and you will be contacted by a BETO staff member to schedule a time for the discussion.

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

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries.”

The FOA will support the highest priority research and development (R&D) areas identified for funding in fiscal year 2022 (FY22) by BETO within biofuel and bioproduct technologies. The FOA will cover two BETO Programs: Advanced Algal Systems and Systems Development and Integration. All topic areas support the White House’s priority for advancing the domestic bioeconomy and support BETO’s Program Goal to achieve $2.50/gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) Minimum Fuel Selling Price (MSFP) and at least a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (vs. petroleum baseline) by 2030.

The R&D activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving innovations that lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies. Specifically, this FOA will support high-impact R&D focusing on the production of low-GHG fuels for the aviation industry, the long-haul trucking sector, and marine industries by soliciting proposals to scale-up promising technologies. The FOA intends to provide a continuation of R&D priorities and strategies identified under BETO’s FY21 Scale-up and Conversion FOA (DE-FOA-0002396).

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 in or about December 2021 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.

In November 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Plastics Innovation Challenge, which aims to accelerate innovations to significantly reduce plastic waste and position the U.S. as a global leader in advanced plastics recycling technologies and in the development and manufacturing of plastics that are recyclable by design. As part of the broader Plastics Innovation Challenge, DOE is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement to spur innovative solutions to plastics recycling.

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) develops technologies that drive energy productivity improvements in the U.S. manufacturing sector, efficiently utilize abundant and available domestic energy resources, and support the manufacture of clean energy products with benefits extending across the economy.  This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) in technologies that overcome the challenges associated with the recycling of films, which are often used in single-use packaging applications.  

BETO and AMO are part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Offices that invest in high-impact, high-value technology R&D across the energy spectrum that industry would be unable to pursue independently due to the high level of risk and technology uncertainty. BETO and AMO fund applied R&D to bolster the body of scientific and engineering knowledge that can enable a new plastics economy by developing novel plastics, including bio-based plastics, capable of being efficiently recycled, composted, or biodegraded and establishing deconstruction and upcycling pathways for existing polymers that will generate high-value products. This FOA builds upon the FY20 BOTTLE FOA and seeks to fill a gap identified in the 2019 Plastics for a Circular Economy Workshop, where single-use packaging was highlighted as an important focus area. 

Plastic waste is an internationally recognized problem. Flexible, single-use packaging, including both single layer and multi-layer, (hereto referred to broadly as “films”) are among the most challenging plastics to recycle, upcycle, or biodegrade due to contamination and properties inherent to their use. At least 32% of global plastic packaging is leaked into the environment, while another 40% is landfilled, losing the energy and value embedded in this class of materials. Films, which are primarily made up of LDPE and LLDPE, make up over five percent by weight wt% of landfilled waste in the US. New technologies to make recycling and upcycling of films economically viable, including designing films for easy recycling, upcycling, or degradation in the environment, will have a large economic and environmental impact. Recycling and upcycling often yield products or plastics with significantly lower carbon footprints over virgin materials, with greenhouse gas emissions being reduced by as much as 70%. Moreover, improvements in recycling technology will lead to improved recycling economics, increased recycling infrastructure investment, and recycling jobs across the entirety of the United States.

State of the art technologies targeting films are highly varied due to the variability inherent to film materials. Research to address multilayer packaging has included single-polymer, single film substitutes, single-polymer multilayer film substitutes with each layer having specific orientation, solvent extraction, and thermal deconstruction. Traditional single-polymer films are being addressed primarily through improved sorting and collection techniques and degradable/biodegradable alternatives, though these alternatives result in a loss of the embodied energy and value of the material. Even after sorting, many films are landfilled due to the high cost associated with transporting this low density material, the low value of recycled films, and the low cost of virgin material.

This FOA seeks applications that enable the recycling and upcycling of films. Challenges associated with film recycling are vast, spanning collection, sorting/separation, contamination, and lack of economic methods for recycling and upcycling. Multilayer materials present further challenges, including immiscibility of different polymer layers and inclusion of inorganic materials. Technology can help to address these challenges by developing methods for recycling, deconstruction, and upcycling films that are sufficiently economic to incentivize collection, sorting and retention. Designing films to be inherently more recyclable or biodegradable, while retaining desired properties such as flexibility, barrier properties and strength could also make recycling of films more economical.

This FOA aims to increase recycling, upcycling, or environmentally benign degradation of films by pursuing two approaches:

1. Development of recycling and upcycling pathways that yield clear and economically favorable pathways for waste film will incentivize waste film collection and recycling; and
2. Redesign of multi-layer films to be inherently recyclable or biodegradable, enabling this complex material to be included in the recycling stream.

Amendment 000001: The purpose of this amendment is to remove the Risk Mitigation Plan for Topic Areas 1b and 1c; update Appendix G - Acceptable Feedstocks, to correct an error and reconcile Topic Area 3a requirements with the text of the FOA; and update Appendix H - Supplemental Content Requirements and Instructions. See FOA DE-FOA-0002396/00001 for details.

Building a clean and equitable 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 achieve carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and 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.“[1] The Department of Energy (DOE) 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.

In support of these Administration priorities, the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is focused on developing technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources (e.g., municipal solid waste, biosolids) into low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. These bioenergy technologies can enable a transition to a clean energy economy, create high-quality jobs, support rural economies, and spur innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production – the bioeconomy. The activities funded through this opportunity will mobilize public clean energy investment in the biofuels, chemical and agricultural industries, accelerate the deployment of bioenergy technologies, and support achieving economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.

This FOA supports high-impact technology RDD&D to accelerate the bioeconomy and, in particular, the production of low-carbon fuels for the aviation industry. BETO is focusing on applied RDD&D to improve the performance and reduce cost of biofuel production technologies and scale-up production systems in partnership with industry. By reducing cost and technical risk, BETO can help pave the way for industry to deploy commercial-scale integrated biorefineries and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation. The Program is focused on developing and demonstrating technologies that are capable of producing low-carbon drop-in biofuels at $2.50 per gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE) by 2030, as well as associated renewable chemical co-products to achieve this target.^[2] BETO is focused on biofuel production pathways that can deliver at least 70% lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum.

The research and development (R&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 high-impact RDD&D focusing on the production of low-GHG fuels for the aviation industry, as well as the long-haul trucking and marine industries by soliciting proposals to scale-up technologies; cost effectively produce biomass derived sugars as an intermediate for the production of biofuels and bioproducts; and support cost effective separation technologies. In addition, the FOA will support increasing the efficiency of residential wood heaters and the production of renewable natural gas.

An informational webinar will be held on April 16^th, 2021 at 3:00 PM ET. The webinar will review the Funding Opportunity Announcement and Merit Review process, but will only discuss Topic Area 1: Scale-up of Biotechnologies specific requirements due to the complex nature of the topic area. Please note, there are no particular advantages or disadvantages to the application evaluation process with respect to participating in the webinar. Your participation is completely voluntary. Please register for the webinar at: https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/events/webinar-scale-biotechnologies

The informational webinar slides have been uploaded to the Announcement Documents section below. The informational webinar recording has been posted to YouTube. Interested parties to this FOA can view the webinar at the following link:

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to FY21BETOMultiTopicFOA@ee.doe.gov.

Answers to the questions will be posted to an excel spreadsheet found in the announcement Documents section of the FOA posting.

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.

[1] Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” January 27, 2021.

[2] U.S. Department of Energy (2020), Bioenergy Technologies Office 2019 R&D State of Technology, DOE/EE-2082, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/07/f76/beto-2019-state-of-technology-july-2020-r1.pdf

Amendment 000002: EERE is amending this Notice of Intent to revise the language in the introduction and topic area descriptions to better align with the most recent guidance from the Acting Assistant Secretary.

_____________________________________

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “FY21 Bioenergy Technologies Scale-up and Conversion FOA.”

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, addressing climate change and achieving net-zero emissions 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.

In support of these Administration priorities, BETO is focused on developing technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources (e.g. municipal solid waste, biosolids) into low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. These bioenergy technologies can enable a transition to a clean energy economy, create high-quality jobs, support rural economies, and spur innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production – the bioeconomy. The activities funded through this opportunity will mobilize public clean energy investment in the biofuels, chemical and agricultural industries, accelerate the deployment of bioenergy technologies, and support achieving economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.

This FOA may support high-impact technology RDD&D to accelerate the bioeconomy and, in particular, the production of low-carbon fuels for the aviation industry. BETO is focusing on applied RDD&D to improve the performance and reduce cost of biofuel production technologies and scale-up production systems in partnership with industry. By reducing cost and technical risk, BETO can help pave the way for industry to deploy commercial-scale integrated biorefineries and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation. The Program is focused on developing and demonstrating technologies that are capable of producing low-carbon drop-in biofuels at $2.50 per gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE) by 2030, as well as associated renewable chemical co-products to achieve this target. BETO is focused on biofuel production pathways that can deliver at least 70% lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum.

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.

Amendment 0003 – The purposes of this modification are to extend the submission deadline for Concept Papers to 2/3/2021 at 5PM ET, submission deadlines for full applications to 4/7/2021 at 5pm ET, expected submission deadline for replies to reviewer comments to 5/21/2021 at 5pm ET, expected date for EERE selection notifications to 7/30/2021, and expected timeframe for award negotiations to be August – September 2021. This modification will also incorporate the following FOA document changes: to change the language in this FOA to reflect the change in software platform from EPIC to EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov; to remove from this FOA sections IV.J.xi and VI.B.vii.4, both titled “Compliance with the Executive Order 13950”, as Executive Order 13950 was revoked on 1/20/2021; to remove Open Source Software Distribution Plan from merit review criterion 2; to add a new section VI.B.xvii “Implementation of Executive Order 13798.”, and to add Table of Personnel to FOA section VI.B.xviii. Please note, as of this modification date 01/22/2021 at 5PM ET/3 pm MT, the EPIC system will not accept any further submissions, and all questions and answers related to this FOA will now be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Please note that you must first select this specific FOA Number in order to view the questions and answers specific to this FOA.

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002423 will support BETO’s highest priority research and development (R&D) areas in two BETO programs: Feedstock Technologies and Advanced Algal Systems. Both Topic Areas support BETO’s objectives to reduce the minimum selling price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, and enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources.

Under this funding opportunity, BETO is interested in the following Topic Areas:

Topic Area 1: Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste to Enable Production of Conversion-Ready Feedstocks

Subtopic 1a: Measurement of Variability of Key MSW Characteristics within and across Unique MSW Streams

Subtopic 1b: Development of Novel Methods for Rapid/Real-time Measurements

Topic Area 2: Algae Productivity Exceeding Expectations (APEX)

Subtopic 2a: Improvements in Productivity with Traditional Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Supply

Subtopic 2b: Improvements in Productivity with Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO₂ from Ambient Air

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The required Concept Paper due date for this FOA is 02/03/2021. The Full Application due date for this FOA is 04/07/2021.

Please see the full text for the Request for Information (RFI) in the DOCUMENTS section below.

THE BIOENERGY TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE (BETO) SEEKS INFORMATION ABOUT BIOENERGY U.S. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OFFERINGS AND GAPS. The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a request for information (RFI) to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, career counselors, educators, and other biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders. Specifically, BETO seeks to provide evidence-based workforce development data to help individuals link to existing and new bioenergy workforce development tools. This evidence-based workforce development data will also assist in preparing the nation's current and future workforce for the rapidly and continually changing workforce demands to reskill and upskill in the bioenergy industry.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to bioenergizeme@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on November 2, 2020.

Please see the full text for the Request for Information (RFI) in the DOCUMENTS section below.

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

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to overcoming the technical barriers and challenges in the design of clean, efficient residential scale wood heaters and in bioprocessing separations development. EERE is specifically interested in information on the following areas:

Topic Area 1 - Residential Wood Heater Technology Advancement: Identifying the critical technology gaps and resources required to significantly reduce emissions and improve efficiency of residential wood heaters.

Topic Area 2 - Bioprocessing Separations Development: Identifying the critical technology gaps and research needs required to enable more efficient separations technologies spanning biochemical and thermochemical approaches.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FY21MultiTopic@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on September 21, 2020.

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

Amendment 000001 - At EERE, we understand that due to the coronavirus outbreak, many of us have had to make adjustments to our business operations and practices in order to safeguard the health and safety of our communities. Due to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves, EERE is issuing an extension of 14 calendar days to respond to FOA DE-FOA-0002245. The due date for Concept Papers for this FOA is now 04/29/2020. The due date for Full Applications for this FOA is now 07/02/2020.

All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Please note that you must first select this specific FOA Number in order to view the questions and answers specific to this FOA.

Thank you, applicants, for your continued efforts during this uncertain time.

We hope that you and your loved ones are well and we look forward to hearing from you.

In November 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Plastics Innovation Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate innovations in energy-efficient plastics recycling technologies. This FOA will support high-impact R&D for plastics by developing new plastics that are capable of efficient recyclability and improving recycling strategies that can break existing plastics into chemical building blocks that can be used to make higher-value products.

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) develops technologies that drive energy productivity improvements in the U.S. manufacturing sector, efficiently utilize abundant and available domestic energy resources, and support the manufacture of clean energy products with benefits extending across the economy. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) to enable the development of technologies that overcome the challenges associated with plastic waste.

Topic Areas include:

1) Highly Recyclable or Biodegradable Plastics: develop new plastics that have improved performance attributes over a comparable existing plastic that can be cost-effectively recycled or biodegrade completely in the environment or in compost facilities.

2) Novel Methods for Deconstructing and Upcycling Existing Plastics: generate energy efficient recycling technologies (mechanical, chemical, or biological) that are capable of breaking plastic streams into intermediates which can be upgraded into higher value products.

3) BOTTLE Consortium Collaborations to Tackle Challenges in Plastic Waste: create collaborations with the Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Laboratory Consortium to further the long-term goals of the Consortium and the Plastics Innovation Challenge.

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

Amendment 000001 - At EERE, we understand that due to the coronavirus outbreak, many of us have had to make adjustments to our business operations and practices in order to safeguard the health and safety of our communities. Due to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves, EERE is issuing an extension of 14 calendar days to respond to FOA DE-FOA-0002203. The due date for this FOA is now 05/14/2020.

All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Please note that you must first select this specific FOA Number in order to view the questions and answers specific to this FOA.

Thank you, applicants, for your continued efforts during this uncertain time.

We hope that you and your loved ones are well and we look forward to hearing from you.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production – the bioeconomy. The activities supported by BETO are authorized by public law 109–58, TITLE IX, § 932, which authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish a program of research and developmentfor bioenergy with the goal of price-competitivebiofuels, bioproducts, and biopower made from biomass-based feedstocks – see section I.E for details. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) to enable growth and innovation to accelerate the bioeconomy by requesting applications across the entire scope of BETO’s mission space.

This FOA will provide funding to address BETO’s highest priority R&D areas. It includes Topic Areas from five BETO programs: Feedstock Supply and Logistics; Advanced Algal Systems; Conversion Technologies; Advanced Development and Optimization; and Strategic Analysis and Crosscutting Sustainability. Each Topic Area supports BETO’s objectives to reduce the minimum selling price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, and enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources.

Topic 1: Scale Up of Bench Applications (SCUBA)

Topic 2: Waste to Energy Strategies for the Bioeconomy

Topic 3: Algae Bioproducts and CO₂ Direct-Air-Capture Efficiency (ABCDE)

Topic 4: Bio-Restore: Biomass to Restore Natural Resources

Topic 5: Efficient Wood Heaters

Topic 6: Biopower and Products from Urban and Suburban Wastes: North American Multi-University Partnership for Research and Education

Topic 7: Scalable CO₂ Electrocatalysis

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.

Please see the full FOA document in the DOCUMENTS section below.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “FY20 Bioenergy Technologies Multi-Topic FOA”.

BETO develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. The activities funded through this opportunity will be a component of the comprehensive U.S. energy strategy to enhance energy supply, create domestic jobs, secure the nation’s global leadership in bioenergy technologies and improve U.S. energy security.

This FOA will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) to enable growth and innovation of the Bioeconomy. The topic areas will focus on BETO's objectives to reduce the minimum fuel selling price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, and enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources.

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 of 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.

EERE plans to issue the FOA 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.

Current recycling strategies often do not allow for cost-effective recycling of commonly used plastics. Typical recycling techniques can result in diminished material properties, which limit opportunities to produce products from recycled material with equal or greater value. However, there is an opportunity to advance new technologies that use recycled materials to reduce manufacturing energy consumption for some of the most prevalent plastics by up to 50 percent, including those used in grocery bags and beverage bottles.

BETO and AMO have identified significant potential to improve the carbon efficiency and energy efficiency of plastics recycling technologies. To achieve this, research is needed to:

- Develop novel polymers that are designed for infinite recyclability;

- Create innovative deconstruction pathways for existing polymers that generate high-value products; and

- Establish a consistent framework for evaluating carbon and energy efficiency across potential material flows and transformations.

Please see the full text of the Notice of Intent in the Documents section below.

EERE is issuing this notice so that interested parties are aware of the intent to issue a 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 in January 2020 via the EERE Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. Applicants who wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA should register in EERE Exchange. After FOA release, EERE will accept applications only through EERE Exchange.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is requesting information on the following research opportunities to help inform its priorities and funding strategies: advanced processes and retrofits to co-produce cellulosic biofuels and other products at existing corn-starch ethanol production facilities; the utilization of waste food streams to produce fuels and chemicals; potential efforts to collect and publish existing under-used or economically stranded bioenergy datasets; and algal biomass feedstock quality and conversion research and development (R&D) for biofuels and bioproducts.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders to help ensure research areas are relevant, timely, appropriate for federal government funding, and aligned with Administration priorities. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No funding applications are being accepted in response to this RFI.

BETO is seeking information related to the following 4 topic areas:

Topic 1: Leveraging First Generation Bioethanol Production Facilities

Topic 2: Systems to Handle Commingled Food Waste Streams

Topic 3: Bridging Industry & Government to Publish Existing High-Impact Data

Topic 4: Algal Biomass Feedstock Quality and Conversion Interface for Biofuels and Bioproducts

Please see the full RFI in the “Documents” section below for the complete list of questions and instructions for responding. Responses are due by September 6, 2019.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will provide funding to address the highest priority R&D areas within biofuel technologies, bioproducts, and biopower. It includes Areas of Interest (AOIs) from all five BETO programs: Feedstock Supply and Logistics; Advanced Algal Systems; Conversion; Advanced Development and Optimization; and Sustainability and Strategic Analysis. Each AOI supports BETO’s objectives to reduce the minimum selling price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources, and improve the quality of feedstock characterization and reliability of biorefinery operations.

Topics under this FOA include:

• AOI 1: Cultivation Intensification Processes for Algae
• AOI 2a: Relating Biomass Physical and Chemical Characteristics to Feedstock Performance in Handling and Conversion Operations
• AOI 2b: Impact of Storage and Handling on Biomass Characteristics
• AOI 2c: Improving Economics and Development of Coproducts
• AOI 3: Efficient Wood Heaters
• AOI 4: Systems Research of Hydrocarbon Biofuel Technologies
• AOI 5: Optimization of Bio-Derived Jet Fuel Blends
• AOI 6: Renewable Energy from Urban and Suburban Wastes
• AOI 7a: Advanced Bioprocessing
• AOI 7b: Agile BioFoundry
• AOI 8a: Designing Highly Recyclable Plastics
• AOI 8b: Designing Novel Methods for Deconstructing and Upcycling Existing Plastics
• AOI 9: Rethinking Anaerobic Digestion
• AOI 10: Reducing Water, Energy, and Emissions in Bioenergy

Please carefully review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement, which can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

FOA Q&A can also be accessed under the "Documents" heading. Please review the Q&A before submitting a question, as a similar question may already have been answered.

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 should contact the Exchange Helpdesk for assistance at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Applicants are responsible for meeting each submission deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their Concept Papers and Full Applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline.

The purpose of this modification is to extend the response deadline to January 18, 2019.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is requesting information on research opportunities related to outdoor algae research, biomass characteristics and feedstock performance, and renewable energy from urban and suburban wastes to help inform its research priorities and funding strategies. BETO seeks information to help inform its research priorities, as part of its annual planning process. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders to help ensure research areas are relevant, timely, appropriate for federal government funding, and aligned with Administration priorities. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No funding applications are being accepted in response to this RFI. Specifically, BETO is seeking information related to the following three topic areas: 1) Outdoor Algae Research; 2) Biomass Characteristics and Feedstock Performance; and 3) Renewable Energy from Urban and Suburban Wastes.

The Project Peer Review is a biennial requirement for all offices in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The peer review process follows guidelines established by EERE and is designed to evaluate the performance of individual projects and assess the office’s overall research and development portfolio. Results are used to inform strategic decision making and guide the office’s future direction.

Each project must be reviewed by a panel of at least five independent reviewers. Peer review panels are designed to represent perspectives of academia, industry, non-profit organizations, or other government agencies.

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Project Peer Review will consist of nine peer review panels, representing each of the technology program areas, as well as two cross-platform sessions. Each peer review panel will have an assigned lead reviewer who will coordinate with the Peer Review Steering Committee, as well as the BETO Peer Review Planning Team.

Members of each peer review panel must be recognized subject matter experts in the field they are designated to review. Reviewers must have no conflicts of interest that would interfere with an unbiased review of the reviewed projects; reviewers will be required to sign a formal conflicts of interest form in advance of the review.

This posting in EERE’s eXCHANGE system is how the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will implement their FY19 Project Peer Review. Only existing BETO awards will be allowed to submit data during this process. If you submit data and you are not an existing BETO award recipient, your submittal will be deleted and no further action will be taken.

Further process instructions will be sent to your project’s Principle Investigator.

The purpose of Modification 000002 is to extend the response deadline to October 22,2018.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is requesting input from industry (including but not limited to contract research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, catalyst manufacturers, and catalyst research consortia), academia, National Laboratories, government agencies, and other biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders on “custom catalyst production capability for biochemical and thermochemical processes”. Specifically, BETO seeks information to help identify and understand additional areas of research, capabilities, and yet-to-be-addressed challenges pertinent to small-scale production (typically in multi-kilogram quantities) of custom catalysts used in technology development and engineering solutions for the efficient conversion of lignocellulosic, waste, and algal feedstocks to produce biofuels and bioproducts. The conversion technologies of interest include biological, thermochemical or hybrid processes. The class of catalysts include but are not limited to, for example, enzymes, immobilized enzymes, inorganic, and organic; and both homogeneous and heterogeneous types.

BETO, in addition, seeks information on capabilities and functionalities that need to be developed to be able to effectively research and test reactive processes with particular emphasis on unit operations and equipment comprising process development units (PDUs) located at National Laboratories that will enable successful transition of early stage research to engineering-scale research.

For purposes of potentially developing future funding opportunities, BETO is interested in understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with small-scale production of custom catalysts capable of minimizing / eliminating variations in catalyst performance while used for bench-scale and engineering-scale process development of biological, thermochemical and hybrid conversion technologies.

BETO is also interested in understanding the need for operational and capability enhancements for unit operations and equipment comprising PDUs that help to transition early stage research to engineering-scale research.

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.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and FOAs and/or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised to NOT include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential. If, however, a respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential information, it must be clearly and conspicuously marked as such in the response.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to CustomCatalystRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on September 28, 2018. 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 15 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Please identify your answers by responding to specific questions and/or topics listed in the full RFI, as 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.

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 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001908, entitled “Efficient Carbon Utilization in Algal Systems.”

BETO’s mission is to accelerate the development of a bioeconomy that can strengthen U.S. energy security, economic viability , and environmental quality. Since 2009, BETO has used its statutory authority under the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, §932(c) to implement an algal biofuels program: the Advanced Algal Systems (AAS) Program (also called the Algae Program and the Program). Advanced biofuels and bioproducts made from algae have the potential to enhance energy security, create domestic jobs, enable energy affordability, and spur the advancement of the bioeconomy. The objective of the Advanced Algal Systems Program is to accelerate the commercialization of algal biofuels by overcoming barriers identified in the 2010 National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap, updated in June 2016. BETO’s Algae Program is implementing a long-term applied research and development strategy to support the bioeconomy by lowering the costs of production for algal biofuels and bioproducts. 

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 Letters of Intenet 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 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.

Applicants must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov before submitting an application and must provide a valid Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in the application. Failure to comply may result in a determination that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award, and that determination could be used as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announces a notice of availability of funds for financial assistance to address gaps in current research and development (R&D) which hinder better utilizing waste streams (e.g. lignin, CO2, and biosolids), improving organic and inorganic catalysts to increase conversion efficiency and decrease costs, and creating high-value performance-advantaged bioproducts to allow for more profitable biorefineries.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) contains six Topic Areas as follows:
• Topic 1: ChemCatBio Industrial Partnerships (CCB)
• Topic 2: Agile BioFoundry Industry Partnership
Initiative (ABF)
• Topic 3: Performance Advantaged Bioproducts (PABP)
• Topic 4: Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet Organic Waste Streams (WWTE)
• Topic 5: Rewiring Carbon Utilization (Rewiring)
• Topic 6: Lignin Valorization (Lignin)

Each topic area contains different specific areas of interest, required descriptions, and metrics. Each also has different feedstock requirements which are outlined in Appendix D of the FOA document.

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 Letter of Intent 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 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 (EERE‐ExchangeSupport@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.

Applicants must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov before submitting an application and must provide a valid Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in the application. Failure to comply may result in a determination that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award, and that determination could be used as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

EERE conducted an informational webinar on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 3:00 ET. Attendance was not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any applicant submissions. The webinar recording can be found at:

https://doe.webex.com/doe/ldr.php?RCID=ff640a8cf352e27d3f2331526f343154

Password: 3Dr9NGXw

*******FULL APPLICATION DEADLINE UPDATE********

Due to several formatting issues with the required forms for the Full Application phase, USDA/DOE are extending the Full Application deadline to Friday, September 29^th, 2017. All documentation for the Full Application is due by 5:00 PM EDT on the new deadline. If there are fields that are locked or un-editable in any of the following documentation it will not negatively impact the overall application score. These forms include: SF-424, RR Budget, RR Subaward Budget, RR Personal Data, RR Key Person Expanded, RR Other Project Info, Performance Site, and NIFA Supplemental Info.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announce that up to $9 million in funding will be made available through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) to increase the nation’s energy independence by supporting the development of bioenergy feedstocks, biofuels, and biobased products.

The projects funded through BRDI—a joint USDA and DOE program—will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass, increase the availability of renewable fuels and biobased products, and diversify our energy portfolio. Both DOE and USDA have been given statutory authorities to support the development of a biomass-based industry in the United States, under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

USDA and DOE will make up to $9 million available through BRDI in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. Applicants will be permitted to address any or all of the following three legislatively mandated technical areas: (A) feedstocks development, (B) biofuels and biobased products development, and (C) biofuels development analysis.

In support of these goals, USDA and DOE are soliciting applications from all interested parties, including for-profit entities, universities, nonprofits, and national laboratories. For FY 2017, DOE anticipates funding 1 to 6 awards, and USDA anticipates funding 3 to 14 awards. Awards are anticipated to range from $500,000 to $2 million per award. All DOE funding is subject to the availability of annual congressional appropriations.

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 RFA posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website.

To apply to this RFA, 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 RFA 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 RFA’s posted deadline.

********UPDATE**********

EERE-DOE/USDA-NIFA is updating the Content and Form of Application Submission related to the following documentation: SF 424 R&R Cover Sheet, SF 424 R&R Project/Performance Site Location(s), R & R Other Project Information Form, R & R Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded), R & R Personal Data, SF 424 (R & R) Budget Fed & Non-Fed, and Supplemental Information Form. These forms are now combined into the form Blank SF 424 Editable Full File (posted below under "Required Application Documents"). This new file includes all the files previously listed, and has several links between the SF 424 and all preceding documents. This update should fix the documentation errors that many applicants have been experiencing.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) intends to issue a Request for Applications (RFA) entitled "Fiscal Year 17 Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI)."

For fiscal year (FY) 2017, the BRDI program requires that funded projects address at least one (1) of the following three (3) legislatively mandated technical (topic) areas:

1) Feedstocks development – The intent of this Topic Area is to address research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities regarding feedstocks and feedstock logistics (including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing, and storage) relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels and biobased products. The BRDI program is designed to support near-term commercial systems. Projects should emphasize development and optimization of existing feedstocks that will be available for testing and demonstration during the life of the project. Proposals that include breeding or genetic improvement of feedstocks should reconcile this work with the Program’s emphasis on near-term impacts.

2) Biofuels and biobased products development – The intent of this Topic Area is to address RD&D activities to support (i) development of diverse cost-effective, innovative technologies for the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products; and, (ii) product diversification through technologies relevant to the production of a range of biobased products (including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power) that potentially can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery.

3) Biofuels development analysis – The intent of this Topic Area is to apply systems evaluation methods that can be used to optimize system performance and market potential and to quantify the project’s impact on sustainability; therefore, successful applications will consider the lifecycle (cradle-to-grave) impacts including environmental, social, and economic implications that are attributable to the project. Successful projects should include these sustainability data in engineering process models and be used over the life of the project to improve the system and quantify sustainability impacts.

NIFA and EERE envision awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants and cooperative agreements, respectively. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately three (3) years.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of NIFA’s and EERE’s intention to issue the RFA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. Neither NIFA nor EERE will respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the RFA has been released, NIFA will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

NIFA and EERE plan to issue a RFA titled “Fiscal Year 17 Biomass Research and Development Initiative” in mid February 2017 via the EERE Exchange website (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx).

1) Section I.B. - Topic Areas/Technical Areas of Interest

a) Revision of text:

Topic Area 2
Applications are required to be at a minimum starting TRL 2 through 4, and will end at TRL 3 through 5 respectively, that is, each application must advance its technology by at least one TRL level. Projects under this Topic Area require cost share be at least 20% of the total allowable costs for task(s) related to R&D activities, and cost share for tasks) related to pilot and demonstration level activities are required to be 50%. Please note that the required front-end throughput is a minimum of 1 DTPD for biomass feedstocks, at least 25,000 gallons of intermediate per year for an algal process, or utilization of at least 16 mmbtu/day of biogas/industrial flue gas and must be achieved by the end of the project period within Topic Area 2. Tasks that will demonstrate this requirement must have a cost-share of 50%. When applicable, applicants may utilize a blended cost share of 20% for R&D tasks and 50% for technology demonstration tasks.

2) Section III.B. - Cost Sharing

a) Addition of text:

EERE Cost Share 20% and 50%
The cost share must be at least 20% of the total allowable costs (i.e., the sum of the Government share, including FFRDC costs if applicable, and the Recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) for research and development projects and 50% of the total allowable costs for demonstration and commercial application projects and must come from non-Federal sources unless otherwise allowed by law. (See 2 CFR 200.306 and 2 CFR 910.130 for the applicable cost sharing requirements.)

3) Submission Deadline for Full Applications extended to 04/05/2017, 5:00 PM ET.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announce a joint funding opportunity to support Integrated Biorefinery Optimization. DOE has funded biorefinery technology development projects, since 2002, to meet two EERE performance goals: 1) reduce dependence on imported oil, thereby enhancing energy security; and 2) spur the creation of a sustainable domestic bio-industry. USDA-NIFA has funded programs and projects that target vital topical areas related to the development of regional systems for the sustainable production of biofuels, industrial chemicals, biopower, and biobased products; as well as investing in America’s scientific corps and developing workforce in bioenergy, bioproducts, and the bioeconomy. Robust scale-up of commercially viable biorefinery technologies will help USDA-NIFA meet two important goals: 1) to enhance energy security through the reduction in the dependence on foreign oil; and 2) to spur the creation of a sustainable domestic bioeconomy. This work supports NIFA’s mission to accelerate deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to strengthen U.S. energy security, economic vitality, and environmental quality.

Federal support for first-of-a-kind Integrated Biorefineries (IBRs) could significantly reduce the
technical and financial risks associated with new technology deployment, thus accelerating the growth of the U.S. bioeconomy, reducing costs to consumers, enabling reductions in environmental pollution in the transportation sector and improving energy security.

There are still unresolved technical and non-technical challenges within the IBRs that need to be addressed in order to achieve reliable and continuous operation that effectively competes with the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries. Many of these challenges are related to:

• Complexity and variability of non-food feedstocks;

• Operational difficulties encountered with handling of solids in the production process;

• Recalcitrance of feedstocks to efficiently convert into products;

• Inhomogeneity of intermediates resulting in non-uniform heat and mass transfer during the
manufacturing processes;

• Complex multi-step separation and purification steps;

• Non-monetization of byproducts and residual streams;

• Difficulties in translating bench-scale and pilot-scale learnings to the next step in scale-up such as demonstration-scale or pioneer-scale commercial level;

• Non-competitive cost of bioproducts due to higher capital and operational expenses; and

• Shortage of capital for long-term industrial projects.
As a result of these barriers, there are only a few pioneer-scale commercial IBRs in early stages
of commissioning, start-up, and/or production, and a wider deployment of highly-efficient IBR
facilities is still a goal to be realized. A number of the challenges result in schedule delays,
increased capital (CapEx) and operational (OpEx) expenses, and scale-up complications.

The FOA will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing projects to address challenges encountered with the successful scale-up and reliable continuous operation of IBRs for the manufacture of Advanced or Cellulosic Biofuels (see Definitions) and associated higher value
bioproducts. The FOA seeks applications for projects focused on addressing these challenges,
reducing risks, and providing resources to accelerate commercialization of biofuels and bioproducts.

The FOA includes four topic areas as follows:

• Topic Area 1: Robust, continuous handling of solid materials (dry and wet feedstocks,biosolids, and/or residual solids remaining in the process) and feeding systems to reactors under various operating conditions;

• Topic Area 2: High value products from waste and/or other under-valued streams in an IBR;

• Topic Area 3: Industrial separations within an IBR; and

• Topic Area 4: Analytical modeling of solid materials (dry and wet feedstocks, and/or residual solids remaining in the process) and reactor feeding systems.

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.

Through this FOA, DOE will support multidisciplinary biological innovation to deliver strains, tools, data, and techniques to enhance algal biofuel potential and enable accelerated future innovation in algal biofuels and bioproducts.

This FOA will fund a variety of projects and approaches that overcome species-specific, ecological, and practical challenges to achieving improved algal areal productivity and to fuel yield (i.e. biomass composition).

This FOA has two topic areas:

1) Topic Area 1: Strain Improvement

This topic area is for small teams to develop enhanced algal strains with increased areal productivity and biofuel yield, along with improved or novel algal toolkits and/or methods. Strain improvement methods may include gene discovery and biological pathway analysis, directed evolution, breeding, and/or genetic engineering of novel algal strains that can reproducibly out-perform the current best available strains in outdoor conditions, where “performance” is represented by productivity, robustness, and composition. Applicants must include a detailed discussion of the reasoning behind their proposed strategy or strategies, strain choice, and why the proposed strain improvement approach has/have the highest
probability of success.

2) Topic Area 2: Cultivation Biology Improvement

This topic area is for small teams to develop increased areal productivity and biofuel yield through enhanced management of ecological or abiotic contributions to cultivation biology, along with improved or novel algal toolkits and/or methods. Cultivation biology development improvements may include leveraging natural or designed microbial assemblages of the algal culture ecosystem to boost performance and resist pathogens, and understanding species-specific cultivation conditions.

This topic area is about improving management of a current cultivation system. Abiotic contributions, including nutrient and stochastic climatological variables, can have a profound effect on outdoor performance. Topic Area 2 supports improving the understanding of physiology and performance under fluctuating and uncontrollable abiotic conditions. Applicants must include a detailed discussion of the reasoning behind their proposed strategy or strategies and why the proposed cultivation improvement approach has/have the highest probability of success.

The FOA will require selected projects to participate in a cultivation readiness validation and benchmarking, or friendly “challenge”, the PEAK Challenge. In the PEAK Challenge, project performers will, after passing an interim Go/No-Go decision point to validate seasonal areal productivity and biomass composition, and towards the conclusion of their development efforts, cultivate their organism(s) in an outdoor relevant environment – a field-based campaign with adequate controls and duration. Utilizing the growing season and cultivation equipment of their choice, each team will demonstrate their peak productivity potential over the course of their culture’s growth curve during this field challenge.

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.

Informational Webinar

DOE's Productivity Enhanced Algae and Tool-Kits FOA Informational Webinar was held on Dec 20, 2016 12:00 PM EST. The slides and transcript have been posted.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Integrated Biorefinery Optimization”.

This FOA will support research and development of technologies that will improve the quality of feedstock characterization, reliability of operations, decrease the Capital Expenses (CapEx) and Operating Expenses (OpEx) and thereby increase the performance efficiencies of biorefineries resulting in continuous operation and production of biofuels, bioproducts and biopower at prices competitive with fossil-derived equivalents. Validation and scale-up of these technologies is essential to enable the industry to build future commercial scale manufacturing facilities. Plans for processes that convert woody biomass, agricultural residues, dedicated energy crops, algae, municipal solid waste (MSW), sludge from wastewater treatment plants, and wet wastes, into biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts will be considered under this funding opportunity.

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

1. Robust, continuous handling of solid materials (dry and wet feedstocks, biosolids, and/or residual solids remaining in the process) and feeding systems to reactors under various operating conditions

2. High value products from waste and/or other under-valued streams in an integrated biorefinery

3. Industrial separations within an integrated biorefinery

4. Analytical modeling of solid materials (dry and wet feedstocks, and/or residual solids remaining in the process) and reactor feeding systems

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 36 months.

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 2016 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.

The purposes of this modification are to:

1. Extend the Submission Deadline for Full Applications from 10/16/2016 to 10/17/2016; and

2. Change the Expected Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments from 11/11/2016 to 11/10/2016.

MODIFICATION 000001:

The purposes of this modification are to:

1. Extend the date of the Informational Webinar from 8/8/2016 to 8/17/2016;

2. Extend the Submission Deadline for Concept Papers from 8/15/2016 to 8/29/2016;

3. Extend the Submission Deadline for Full Applications from 9/18/2016 to 10/16/2016;

4. Change the Expected Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments from 10/14/2016 to 11/11/2016;

5. Change the Expected Date for EERE Selection Notifications from 11/18/2016 to 1/15/2017;

6. Change the Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations to March 2017;

7. Remove references to FFRDC involvement in Sections III.B and IV.D to align with Section III.A of the FOA; and

8. Clarify in Section IV.C.i. that concept papers can address multiple sub-topics as described in Section I.B of the FOA.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) announce a joint funding opportunity in support of the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative. Eligibility for this FOA is restricted to U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. § 1001, in accordance with 2 C.F.R § 200.55), and non-profit research institutions that operate as a division under the U.S. Institutions of Higher Education. This restricted eligibility applies to both Prime Recipients and Subrecipients.

The Co-Optima initiative seeks to accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable high performance fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission engines. This first-of-its-kind effort brings together multiple DOE offices, DOE National Laboratories, and industry stakeholders to simultaneously conduct tandem fuel and engine research and development (R&D) and deployment assessment in order to maximize energy savings and on-road vehicle performance, while dramatically reducing transportation-related petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

An Informational Webinar was held on August 17, 2016 at 1:00 PM ET. You can download a copy of the presentation slides below. To view a recorded copy, visit the following link: https://youtu.be/kWpNq85XBmE

This FOA will support the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative, a collaborative initiative being pursued by BETO and VTO to accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable high-performance fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission engines. This first-of-its-kind effort brings together multiple DOE offices, national laboratories, and industry stakeholders to simultaneously conduct tandem fuel and engine R&D and deployment assessment in order to maximize energy savings and on-road vehicle performance, while dramatically reducing transportation-related petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of 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 in August 2016 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 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 EERE may not issue a FOA at all.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) seeks feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to mobilizing biomass resources to support a “billion-ton bioeconomy.” Existing feedstock supply systems are not adequate to reliably provide high-quality feedstock at the increasing volumes demanded over the next few decades by a growing bioeconomy. Current systems and technologies have limitations in providing uniform feedstocks with specified composition, shape, size, and moisture characteristics. New logistics and processing technologies and systems are needed to address these challenges to support a growing biomass derived industry and bioeconomy. Advanced systems in the future may involve central processing and distribution centers such as feedstock depots or be stand-alone operations.

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 BETOAFSS@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.

1) The minimum throughput requirements for topic areas as described in "Section I.B - Topic Areas/Technical Areas of Interest" and "Appendix D – Allowable Feedstock Definitions".

The purposes of Modification 000001 are to clarify the following:

1) The minimum throughput requirements for topic area;
2) The Period of Performance for Phase 1; and
3) The FOA inbox contact information.

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), announces a notice of availability of funding for financial assistance from the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). DOE has funded biorefinery technology development projects since 2002 to meet two EERE performance goals: 1) dramatically reduce dependence on imported oil; and 2) spur the creation of the domestic bio-industry.

This FOA will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing project development and execution plans for the manufacture of Advanced or Cellulosic Biofuels (“Biofuels”, as defined in the Energy Investment and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) §201), bioproducts, refinery compatible intermediates, or biopower in a domestic pilot or demonstration scale Integrated Biorefinery (IBR). Scale-up and validation of these process technologies is essential to enable the industry to build future pioneer- and commercial-scale facilities. The FOA seeks applications for projects to first design, and then construct and operate IBR facilities. There will be a down-select review between the design phase (Phase 1) and the construction/operation phase (Phase 2). The down-select decision will be made by DOE at the completion of the design phase. Project performance in Phase 1, as well as portfolio balance, availability of funds, and other factors will be considered in the down-select decision process. Only projects selected by DOE as a result of the down-select process will receive additional funding and be permitted to proceed into the construction/operation phase (Phase 2).

The FOA will include three topic areas as follows:

• Topic Area 1: Pilot scale production of Biofuels from high impact cellulosic, algal, or biogas feedstocks. Minimum feedstock throughput must be 1 dry metric ton (DMT) per day or equivalent throughput of algal biomass or biogas. Bioproducts and biopower are only allowed as co-products from the facility.
• Topic Area 2: Demonstration scale production of Biofuels from high impact cellulosic, algal, or biogas feedstocks. Minimum feedstock throughput must be 50 DMT per day or equivalent of algal biomass or biogas. Bioproducts and biopower are only allowed as co-products from the facility.
• Topic Area 3: Production of either biopower or Biofuels from biosolids and other allowable Wet Waste Feedstock streams. Bioproducts are also allowed as co-products from the facility. Minimum feedstock throughput must be 1 DMT per day.

Applications submitted in response to this FOA must address the entire process, from feedstock handling through to biofuel, bio-product, or biopower distribution. Applicants who propose the production of biopower must include a discussion of the costs of combined heat and power or electricity generation in the full application.

All applications must stress articulation of the project’s value proposition, target markets, competitors, and distribution channels for proposed technology, along with known or perceived barriers to market penetration, including mitigation strategies. The value proposition should include a discussion of the current and potential market share, and the economic competitiveness of the proposed process.

Applicants who intend to replicate and commercialize the technology through other than scale-up methods, such as through modular deployment or other mechanisms, must present equivalent information to sufficiently describe their envisioned commercialization strategy.
Recognizing the significant capital investments that have been made through prior BETO FOAs, BETO also encourages innovative reuse and repurposing of capital equipment purchased under prior DOE programs.

A limited amount of preparatory work to support the design of the proposed pilot scale project will be allowed within the scope of the project. Typically up to 10% of the total Phase 1 project budget (total allowable budget) may be proposed for the preparatory R&D, but the amount is subject to negotiation after notification of selection for negotiation of an award. Preparatory work may include limited research and development (R&D) including expenses for equipment, salaries, and supplies. All project costs, including any preparatory R&D work, will be subject to the 50% cost share requirement.

All applicants must clearly establish that sufficient work at prior scale has been completed to justify that the proposed IBR meets either Technology Readiness Level 6 criteria for pilot scale applications or Technology Readiness Level 7 criteria for demonstration scale applications. 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Project Definition for Pilot and Demonstration Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower (PD2B3).”

This FOA supports technology development plans for the manufacture of drop-in hydrocarbon biofuels, bioproducts, or intermediates in a pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery. Scale-up and validation of these process technologies is essential to enable the industry to build future pioneer- and commercial-scale manufacturing facilities. Plans for facilities that use lignocellulosic biomass, algal biomass, or biosolids feedstocks will be considered under this funding opportunity.

Under this FOA, Applicants must address one comprehensive topic area with three main priority areas. These priority areas are:

1. Pilot scale production of Biofuels from high impact lignocellulosic, algal, or bio-gas feedstocks.
2. Demonstration scale production of Biofuels from high impact lignocellulosic, algal, or bio-gas algal feedstocks.
3. Production of bio-power, bio-products, and Biofuels from biosolids and other waste streams.

This notice of intent (NOI) 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 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.

EERE plans to issue the FOA in May 2016 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.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) seeks feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to “challenges encountered with the successful scale-up and reliable operation of integrated biorefinery plants (IBRs).” Specifically, BETO seeks information that will help it understand additional areas of research, capabilities, and yet to be addressed barriers and opportunities for stakeholder engagement pertaining to technology development and engineering solutions for the reliable operation of IBRs to produce biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts.

BETO seeks information on all IBR processes and technologies, including any and all systems processes, technologies, methods and equipment employed to convert woody biomass, agricultural residues, dedicated energy crops, algae, municipal solid waste (MSW), sludge from wastewater treatment plants, and wet solids, into biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts.BETO seeks information on technical challenges that have hindered, or could in the future hinder, the achievement of reliable continuous operations. BETO is particularly interested in receiving stakeholder input on production systems expected to be in the range of feedstock throughput of 1 DTPD (Dry Tonne per Day) to 1,000 DTPD to:
1. Understand scale-up and mitigate operational risks and challenges for integrated biorefinery plants;
2. Develop robust handling of variable solid materials (dry and wet feedstocks, and/or residual solids remaining in the process)and investigate reactor feed systems operating under vacuum or at positive pressures;
3. Improve pre-processing methodologies to transform diverse types of feedstocks into homogeneous, standardized intermediates;
4. Advance process intensification focused on simplification (such as reduction in number of process steps); enable reliable, robust continuous operations; increase selectivity and enable hybrid separations; cost reduction through innovative fabrication and construction methods (for example, modularization of systems); and/or efficient water management techniques;
5. Address unique process issues (for example, the need to remove oxygen and lignin to facilitate efficient processing of feedstocks into products, the need to remove natural or derivatized contaminants), and pathways including
i. biological;
ii. thermochemical;
iii. catalytic
iv. biochemical;
v. algae; and
vi. hybrid pathways; and
6. Develop strategies to reduce Capital Expense (CapEx) costs by reducing technical risks and ensuring minimum modifications during different phases of the execution (for example, construction, commissioning, operations, etc.) of biorefinery projects.

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.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

The purpose of the modification is to extend the response deadline to March 11, 2016, 5:00PM (ET).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking input from industry, academia, national laboratories and other biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders to identify existing pilot or process development scale facilities with the capability to perform process verifications for biomass conversion pathways to biofuels, bioproducts or intermediates which integrate multiple unit operations on a scale of approximately 0.5 or greater tons of dry biomass input per day.

The mission of DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to develop and transform the country’s biomass resources into commercially-viable high performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through targeted research, development, demonstration and deployment (RD&D) supported through public and private partnerships. In this regard, BETO has a 2017 goal to verify a conversion pathway to a hydrocarbon biofuel modeled at $3/gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE). To facilitate this goal, BETO supports RD&D efforts which advance technologies to produce both drop-in biofuels which can replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and biomass-based products/chemicals which can compete with their petroleum-derived counterparts and enable biofuels deployment.

In the past, BETO has gathered process performance data used in its design cases and State of Technology evaluations by conducting pilot-scale runs at national laboratory facilities such as the Integrated Biorefinery Facility (IBRF) or the Thermochemical User Facility (TCUF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). BETO is interested in assessing what other capabilities may exist to perform such process verifications at other domestic locations that have different or additional capabilities than those currently used. In addition, as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill of 2016, Congress has directed DOE to “develop a comprehensive list of existing demonstration and pilot-scale multi-user facilities for bio-based products, chemicals, and intermediates…and report to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act.”

The purpose of this RFI is to develop a comprehensive list of locations which exist as (or are willing to act as) pilot or process development scale multi-user facilities for biofuels and bio-based products, chemicals, and intermediates, including synthesis gas, cellulosic sugars, bio-oil, hydrogen, biogas and methane. We are exclusively requesting information on capabilities which are on the scale of approximately 0.5 tons of dry biomass input per day or greater. This information will be used to assess existing capabilities which could be leveraged to perform process verifications and determine the gaps of such an inventory. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

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.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

The purpose of Modification 000001 is to update page 8, under Section I.c, "Applications specifically not of interest," the following bullet was deleted: "Applications that propose to develop technology that relies on purely heterotrophic algae cultivation."

The Bioenergy Technologies, MegaBio: Bioproducts to Enable BioFuels Informational Webinar was held on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 and standard procedures were discussed. Due to technical difficulties the video version of the  webinar presentation could not be posted. The slides and transcript have been provided in the Documents section of this announcement.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announces a notice of availability of funds for financial assistance addressing the development of flexible biomass to hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can be modified to produce advanced fuels and/or products based on external factors, such as market demand. These pathways could consist of a route to a platform chemical that could be converted to products or fuels or a route that coproduces chemicals and fuels.

BETO has a goal of meeting the 2022 cost target of $3/gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) for the production of renewable hydrocarbon fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. One approach BETO has taken previously to achieve this goal is to focus on conversion pathways that produce biofuels, with little or no emphasis on coproducing bioproducts. As BETO increasingly focuses on hydrocarbon fuels, it is examining strategies that capitalize on revenue from bioproducts as part of cost-competitive biofuel production.

A variety of technology pathways can be used to produce renewable hydrocarbon biofuels, but many of them require the production of value-added chemicals and products in the near-term to achieve an attractive rate of return on cost-competitive fuels. Value-added chemicals and products can also incentivize the de-risking of “front end” processes (from feedstock logistics through to deconstruction) which are also necessary for fuel production. It is important to note that while bioproducts are seen as a valuable strategy for enabling fuels, the BETO is not interested in pursuing R&D solely on bioproducts without a fuels component.

The intent of this FOA, therefore, is to identify R&D projects that develop biomass to hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can produce variable amounts of fuels and products based on external factors, such as market demand. These pathways could consist of a route to a platform chemical that could be converted to products or fuels or a route that coproduces chemicals and fuels. Successful applications will include a clear justification for producing the target molecule(s) from biomass, a compelling narrative explaining how the target product(s) will enable biofuels, and supporting techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis.

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 (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 Bioenergy Technologies Office's (BETO) Advanced Algal Systems Program seeks projects that will develop technologies that are likely to succeed in producing 3,700 gallons of algal biofuel intermediate (or equivalent dry weight basis) per acre per year (gal/acre/yr) on an annualized average basis (not peak or projected) through multiple batch campaigns or on a semi-continuous or continuous basis, in an outdoor test environment by 2020. In general, “biofuel intermediates” are biomass-based feedstocks that can replace petroleum-based feedstocks in downstream refining. Biofuel intermediates should be able to be treated as commodities and passed from a producer to a refiner through the supply chain. Biofuel intermediates can be refined into a variety of liquid transportation fuels such as, but not limited to: ethanol, renewable diesel, and renewable jet fuel. The average yield target of 3,700 gal/acre/yr of intermediate must be achieved under conditions that result in favorable lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions and techno-economic analyses (energy return on investment – energy content of final products/energy input, assuming mature scale deployment of technologies).

BETO’s Advanced Algal Systems Program has a goal of demonstrating, at a process development unit scale, algal biofuel intermediate yield of 2,500 gallons per acre per year by 2018 and 5,000 per acre per year by 2022. This FOA is directed at the interim yield between the two target yields and target years. It is expected that projects selected under this FOA will be well on their way to demonstrating the 2,500 gal/acre/yr (at a minimum, projects must be able to produce between 1,900 and 2,500 gal/acre/yr on an annualized average basis at the beginning of the proposed project – the project baseline) with a reasonable and realistic plan to produce 3,700 gal/acre/yr by the end of the performance period.

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 (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.

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

Replies to Reviewer Comments

Expected time frame: May 11, 2016 12:00PM to May 13, 2016 11:59PM Eastern Time

During this time period, EERE will provide eligible applicants with reviewer comments and an opportunity to provide a short reply. This is an optional submission. Review Sections IV.A and IV.E of the FOA for content and form requirements.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “MEGA-BIO: Bioproducts to Enable Biofuels”.

This FOA supports BETO’s goal of meeting its 2022 cost target of $3/gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) for the production of hydrocarbon fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. One approach BETO has taken previously to achieve this goal is to focus on conversion pathways that produce biofuels, with little or no emphasis on coproducing bioproducts. As BETO increasingly focuses on hydrocarbon fuels, it is examining strategies that capitalize on revenue from bioproducts as part of cost-competitive biofuel production.

A variety of technology pathways can be used to produce hydrocarbon biofuels, but many of them require the production of value-added chemicals and products in the near-term to achieve an attractive rate of return on cost-competitive fuels. Value-added chemicals and products can also incentivize the de-risking of “front end” processes (from feedstock logistics through to deconstruction) which are also necessary for fuel production. It is important to note that while bioproducts are seen as a valuable strategy for enabling fuels, the BETO is not interested in pursuing R&D solely on bioproducts, without a fuels component.

The intent of this FOA, therefore, is to identify R&D projects that develop biomass to hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can produce variable amounts of fuels and products based on external factors, such as market demand. These pathways could consist of a route to a platform chemical that could be converted to products or fuels or a route that coproduces chemicals and fuels. Successful applications will include a clear justification for producing the target molecule(s) from biomass, a compelling narrative explaining how the target product(s) will enable biofuels, and supporting technoeconomic analysis and life cycle analysis.

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

Area of Interest 1: R&D to optimize one unit operation of the proposed conversion pathway

Area of Interest 2: R&D to optimize and integrate multiple unit operations of the proposed conversion pathway
EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately three years.

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 in or about January, 2016 via the EERE Exchange website https://eereexchange.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.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) are seeking stakeholder input on its Optima initiative, a DOE sponsored program focused on the development of new fuels and engine architectures that are co-optimized—designed in tandem to maximize performance and carbon efficiency. DOE is specifically interested in stakeholder input on 1) perspectives and interest in co-optimization of fuels and engines, 2) technical aspects of fuel and advanced compression ignition (ACI) engine interactions and 3) barriers to market acceptance and deployment of co-optimized fuels and engines.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to the Optima initiative. EERE is specifically interested in information regarding additional areas of research that universities and others are interested in contributing to and collaborating on. This RFI will help BETO and VTO understand the additional areas of research, capabilities, and yet to be addressed barriers and opportunities for stakeholder engagement relative to the co-optimization of engines and fuels. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

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.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to OptimaRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on January 8, 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.

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 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Advancements in Algal Biomass Yield, Phase 2 (ABY, Phase 2)”.

This FOA supports projects developing technologies that are likely to succeed in producing 3,700 gallons of algal biofuel intermediate (or equivalent dry weight basis) per acre per year (gal/acre/yr) on an annualized average basis (not peak or projected) through multiple batch campaigns or on a semi-continuous or continuous basis, in an outdoor test environment by 2020.

Under this FOA, Applicants must address one comprehensive topic area with three main priority areas. These priority areas are:

   1) strain/productivity improvement

   2) improvements in pre-processing technologies (harvesting, dewatering, and extraction and/or equivalent processes)

   3) integration of cultivation with pre-processing technologies

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 30, 2015, via theEERE 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.

Expected Deadline Change for Replies to Reviewer Comments Period:

DOE EERE expects to make reviewer comments available in Exchange on 12/14/2015 at 8:00 AM ET. Because reviewer comments are being provided one day earlier than anticipated, replies are due on 12/16/2015 by 5:00 PM ET (which is one day earlier than the expected submission deadline noted on the cover page of Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001320). Replies to reviewer comments must follow the content and length requirements set forth in the FOA, Section IV.F (page 31). DOE will not review or consider ineligible Replies to Reviewer Comments.

The purpose of Modification 000002 is to delete Section III.E.2.v Limit on FFRDC Effort:

The purposes of Modification 000001 are to make the following changes:

Additional clarification of areas of non-interest was added in the highlighted sections on pages 4-5 of the FOA to include the following:

The following types of applications will be deemed nonresponsive and will not be reviewed or considered (See Section III.D of the FOA):

• Applications that propose exploratory, basic science research (earlier than TRL 2).
• Applications that are at the demonstration and deployment phase (later than TRL 5).
• Applications that use food or feed carbohydrates, lipids, or proteins (e.g. maize or wheat dextrose, beet sucrose, sugar care or grain sorghum syrup, soybean oil or meal), and/or derivatives (e.g. amino acids from maize dextrose, glycerol from the transesterification of soybean oil).

For Topic 1 (Algae Feedstocks R&D), the additional areas of non-interest were added:

• Applications that propose to develop technology that relies on purely heterotrophic algae cultivation.
• Applications that propose mixotrophic algae cultivation strategies that utilize food-based sugars (i.e., derived from food-based crops including but not limited to corn, beets, sorghum, and sugar cane).
• Applications that propose to develop technology for the artificial lighting-based cultivation of algae for energy products (other than as an enabling tool for high-throughput laboratory-based screening).
• Applications that propose to work on biomass other than algae biomass (e.g. lignocellulosic biomass, non-algae micro-organisms, fungi, etc.).

The overall strategic goal of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to develop commercially viable bioenergy and bioproducts to enable sustainable, nationwide production of biofuels that are compatible with today’s transportation infrastructure, can reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions relative to petroleum-derived fuels, and can displace a share of petroleum-derived fuels to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and encourage the creation of a new domestic bioenergy industry.

BETO has targeted a performance goal of validating, at pilot scale, at least one technology pathway for hydrocarbon biofuel at a mature modeled cost of $3/GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) with GHG emissions reduction of 50% or more compared to petroleum-derived fuel by 2017, and validating two additional pathways by 2022.

These high level strategic and performance goals are expanded in further detail in BETO’s multi-year program plan (MYPP). BETO most recently updated its MYPP in March 2015 . The MYPP identifies many technical barriers that must be overcome through research, development and deployment in order for BETO to meet these overall strategic and performance goals. BETO has issued several Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to address the technical barriers delineated in the MYPP, and has done so in a way to focus its resources in a limited number of pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact and for the highest probability of success. BETO has communicated its project portfolio in public via the 2013 Peer Review and 2015 Peer Review.

However, BETO recognizes that there may be very novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs yet still meet BETO’s goals and mission. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

BETO is issuing this Incubator 2 FOA to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not currently represented in a significant way in the BETO’s MYPP and current project portfolio.

To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE Exchange at https://eere-Exchange.energy.gov, EERE’s online application portal. Frequently asked questions for this FOA and the EERE Application process can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/FAQ.aspx.

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.

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.

The Innovative Technologies for Bioenergy Technologies Incubator 2 FOA Informational Webinar will be held Wednesday, September 2, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ET. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. Please register for the webinar at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8577701794294175233

For a recorded version of the webinar session held Wednesday, September 2, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp9WC4OYjF0

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 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator 2”.

BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration activities at increasing scale to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, as well as bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan, to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. These technical challenges and barriers form the basis for BETO to issue funding opportunities announcements (FOAs) for financial assistance awards in these specific areas. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs, yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

It is anticipated that the FOA will have two topic areas. Topic Area 1 will be open to all proposals that seek to develop novel, non-incremental technologies that facilitate the goals of BETO’s Algae platform, but are not represented in a significant way in the current Algae project portfolio. Topic Area 2 will be open to all proposals that seek to develop novel, non-incremental technologies that facilitate the goals of BETO, but are not represented in a significant way in the current Feedstocks or Conversion project portfolios. The FOA will describe areas of non-interest (that is, areas that BETO is funding in a significant way) with greater specificity. It is expected that proposals will be at early Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), ranging from 2 (technology concept and/or application formulated) to 4 (component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment).

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 12-24 months.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of 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 in July 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.

NOTE: The FOA has been updated to incorporate Modification 001 and Modification 002, as discussed below:

This FOA was modified for a first time on December 18, 2014. The purpose of this modification is to extend the following dates:

1. Submission Deadline for Full Applications;

2. Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments;

3. Expected Date for EERE Selection Notifications.

This FOA was modified for a second time on February 12, 2015. The purpose of this modification is to extend the following dates:

1. Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments;

2.Expected Date for EERE Selection Notifications.

See Modification 002 under FOA Documents below.

EERE is seeking interdisciplinary projects that apply landscape design approaches to integrate cellulosic feedstock production into existing agricultural and forestry systems while maintaining or enhancing environmental and socio-economic sustainability including ecosystem services and food, feed, and fiber production. For the purposes of this FOA, cellulosic feedstock production refers to dedicated annual and perennial energy crops, use of agricultural and forestry residues, or a combination of these options.

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.

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.

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.

Informational Webinar: 

An informational webinar about the Funding Opportunity Announcement and the application process was held on Monday, November 3, 3:00 Eastern Time. Attendance was not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. The link to the audio file of the webinar can be found at: http://youtu.be/Xupg-Jk2Ssc. Please note you will need to provide the same registration information as you did for the webinar. The webinar slides are also now available for review.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue, on behalf of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Request for Applications (RFA) entitled “Fiscal Year 15 Biomass Research and Development Initiative (“BRDI”).”

The RFA will address USDA and DOE programmatic objectives, administrative roles, and areas of interest in implementing Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) grants. Section 9001(a) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-246) re-authorized the BRDI competitive grants program by amending section 9008 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA), as amended, (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 U.S.C. 8108).

For fiscal year (FY) 2015, BRDI will require that funded projects address only one (1) of the following three (3) legislatively mandated technical areas:

1. Feedstocks development – The intent of this Topic Area is to address research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities regarding feedstocks and feedstock logistics (including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing, and storage) relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels and biobased products. The BRDI program is designed to support near-term commercial systems. Projects should emphasize development and optimization of existing feedstocks that will be available for testing and demonstration during the life of the project. Proposals that include breeding or genetic improvement of feedstocks should reconcile this work with the Program’s emphasis on near-term impacts.

2. Biofuels and biobased products development – The intent of this Topic Area is to address RD&D activities to support (i) development of diverse cost-effective technologies for the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products; and, (ii) product diversification through technologies relevant to the production of a range of biobased products (including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power) that potentially can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery.

3. Biofuels development analysis – The intent of this Topic Area is to apply systems evaluation methods that can be used to optimize system performance and market potential and to quantify the project’s impact on sustainability; therefore, successful applications will consider the lifecycle (cradle-to-grave) impacts including environmental, social, and economic implications that are attributable to the project. Successful projects should include these sustainability data in engineering process models and be used over the life of the project to improve the system and quantify sustainability impacts.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of NIFA's and EERE's intention to issue a RFA in the near term.  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicants to the RFA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this RFA.  It is anticipated that the RFA will be posted to Grants.gov in November 2014.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001162, entitled “Targeted Algal Biofuels and Bioproducts (TABB)”.

The TABB FOA seeks alternative pathways to overcome two of the key barriers to commercializing algal biofuels: the high cost of producing algal biomass and the low yield of target biofuel and bioproduct feedstocks produced from algae.  Specifically, the TABB FOA will support: 1) the development of algae cultures that produce valuable bioproducts alongside fuels to increase the overall value of the biomass; and 2) the development of crop protection and CO2 utilization technologies to boost culture productivity and yield to reduce the cost of the biomass.  The goal is to enable a modeled minimum fuel selling price, assuming mature technologies, of less than $5 gasoline gallon equivalent for algal biofuels through creation of valuable products alongside fuels and achieving increased biomass productivity that leads to higher feedstock yields. 

The TABB FOA includes two topic areas:

1. Consortia that bring together upstream and downstream expertise to develop biofuels and bioproducts from algae that are comparable and competitive with their petroleum-based counterparts and have broad national market impacts;

2. Single investigator or small team technology development projects focused on developing crop protection or CO2 utilization technologies to raise the biomass productivity and demonstrate that the increase could lead to higher yields.

Consortia projects in Topic Area 1 will develop and characterize finished products and fuels spanning the entire algae processing system (cultivation, harvesting, processing, refining/bioproduct production).  The projects in Topic Area 2 will increase algal biomass productivity and/or yield via crop protection or CO2 utilization strategies.               

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 &/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 &/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 TABB FOA Informational Webinar was held on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 from 1:00pm-3:00pm EST. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures were discussed.

Here is the YouTube link to the webinar:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2NOLV8RIRw

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) plans to support the continued increase of sustainably produced domestic bioenergy from renewable cellulosic feedstocks, such as agricultural residues, annual and perennial dedicated energy crops, and forest resources. DOE is seeking input from producers, industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, environmental groups, and other bioenergy stakeholders regarding landscape design approaches that integrate cellulosic feedstock production into existing agricultural and forestry systems while maintaining or enhancing environmental and socio-economic sustainability including ecosystem services and food, feed, and fiber production.

DOE is aware of promising advancements that support the objective of designing sustainable, multi-functional landscapes that supply cellulosic bioenergy feedstocks while maintaining or enhancing environmental sustainability. These advancements include the development of relevant spatial models and decision-support tools, modeling studies that demonstrate potential environmental improvements from biomass production, generation of field data on bioenergy crop and residue recovery performance and sustainability, and development of management practices for bioenergy crop and residue production. However, DOE is not aware of many initiatives that apply the current set of tools and knowledge to proactively design these multi-functional landscapes for increased cellulosic feedstock production, validate the environmental and social sustainability impacts at a watershed or comparable scale, and assess the feedstock characteristics and logistics systems (e.g., harvesting, preprocessing, and transport) associated with those landscape designs. DOE is seeking information on cost-effective, feasible approaches for testing the landscape design approach for increasing cellulosic feedstock production at a watershed, multi-landowner, or comparable spatial scale through a combination of modeling, data collection, field research, and engagement with landowners and other relevant stakeholders.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE 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. DOE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of this RFI and where to submit questions regarding submission of responses can be found in the full RFI posted on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to BETOLandscapeDesignRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (EDT) on September 2, 2014. 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. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

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

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001162, entitled “Targeted Algal Biofuels and Bioproducts (TABB)”.

The TABB FOA seeks to reduce the cost of algal biofuels. BETO’s 2019 projected state of technology (SOT) for the cost of algal biofuels is modeled at about $7 per gallon gasoline gallon equipvalent (gge) without valuable co-products.   The TABB FOA will support work at bench and process development scales to develop valuable co-products, crop protection, and CO2 utilization strategies. BETO expects the TABB FOA to result in modeled algal biofuel costs of less than $5 gge by 2019. This will provide alternative, nearer-term pathways to achieve BETO’s goal of $3 gge advanced algal biofuels validation by 2030.

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 September 2014.

The Department of Energy (DOE) seeks stakeholder input regarding the eight (8) representative biofuel pathways that the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has selected to guide its Research and Development (R&D) strategy in the near-term. DOE also seeks input on other pre-commercial pathways that they should consider in the near- to long-term. 

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE 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. DOE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of this RFI and where to submit questions regarding submission of responses can be found in the full RFI posted on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment in an e-mail message addressed to PathwaysRFI@ee.doe.gov with the subject line “Response to RFI” no later than 5:00pm (EDT) on MAY 30TH, 2014. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) or PDF attachment of no more than 5 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, not to exceed 2.5MB in size.  Only electronic responses will be accepted. Responses submitted by any other means will not be considered by DOE.

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

7/7/2014 - The Deadline for Replies to Reviewers comments has been changed to 7/11/2014 5pm, EST.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announces a notice of availability of funds for financial assistance addressing the development, improvement and demonstration of integrated biological or chemical upgrading technology for the production of substitutes for petroleum‐based feedstocks, products and fuels.

EERE seeks diversification of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) portfolio to include a variety of chemical and biological upgrading technologies for the production of a suite of hydrocarbon fuels, fuel intermediates and chemicals (beyond ethanol) to be produced in an integrated fashion from biologically or chemically derived intermediate feed streams, such as but not limited to cellulosic sugars, lignocellulose derivatives, lignin, cellulosic alcohols, bio-solids and biogases. For the purposes of this FOA lignocellulosic sugars will not be allowable fuel intermediates.

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.

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@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 &/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.

An informational webinar about the Funding Opportunity Announcement and the application process was held on Tuesday, April 22nd at 3:00 Eastern Time. Attendance was not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. The link to the audio file of the webinar can be found at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646269008 . Please note you will need to provide the same registration information as you did for the webinar.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Biological and Chemical Upgrading for Advanced Biofuels and Products”.

This FOA seeks diversification of the BETO portfolio to allow for biological, chemical and hybrid upgrading processes (multi step, chemical and biological) that will broadly encompass pathways found under the BETO Conversion – Biochemical Technology Area. While thermochemical pathways will not be considered, all related new chemical and biological concepts, ideas and approaches will be considered. Allowable biomass feed intermediates for this FOA are cellulosic sugars, lignocellulose derivatives, lignin, cellulosic alcohols, bio-solids and biogases produced through the conversion of organic matter from renewable biomass (excluding syngas).

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 in April 2014.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator”.

BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan , to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily align well with BETO’s current multi-year program plan yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful technologies and solutions that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

The Bioenergy Technologies Incubator FOA will be ‘open’ to any and all impactful proposals which significantly advance the mission of the BETO. It is expected that proposals will be at early Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) ranging from 2 (Technology concept and/or application formulated) to 4 (Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment). Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates in future program roadmaps.

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The total amount of funding for the FOA is $10 million. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 12-24 months, with an award size from $0.5 million to $2.0 million, with 20% cost-share.

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 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 (exchange@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 (exchange@hq.doe.gov).  The Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (exchange@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving the 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 contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through Exchange within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

The Bioenergy Technologies Incubator FOA Informational Webinar was held Monday, March 3, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures were discussed.

Here is the link to the Webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/689477432

The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), seeks to enable a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficient technology advancements to ensure a clean and secure domestic energy future. The EERE Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), launched in 2013, has the goal of enhancing United States (US) competitiveness in clean energy technologies, and aims to improve existing manufacturing processes and to stimulate the manufacturing of new energy products in the United States. The mission of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) within EERE is to develop and transform biomass resources into commercially viable, high performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through targeted research, development, demonstration, and deployment supported through public and private partnerships. This FOA seeks to address both the EERE CEMI aims and to fulfill EERE BETO's mission by demonstrating a new technology pathway to produce high performance and low cost renewable carbon fibers.

The FOA seeks to develop a cost competitive pathway to produce high performance carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting from renewable non-food biomass. Carbon fiber composites are lightweight, yet strong, materials that can greatly improve vehicle fuel efficiency when incorporated into structural and non-structural components. Carbon fibers are polymers that are typically made from petroleum and natural gas feedstocks (propylene and ammonia, respectively) that react to form acrylonitrile (ACN) which is then polymerized and spun into polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The volatility of the raw material prices and the energy intensive processes used in the manufacturing contribute to high cost carbon fibers (>$10/lb), which deter widespread use by the automotive industry. The objective of the FOA is to identify and develop a cost-competitive technology pathway to high performance carbon fibers using biomass as a starting raw feedstock and biomass derived ACN (bio-ACN) as a target product. The goal is to produce bio-ACN at a modeled cost of $1.00/lb to enable the overall manufacturing of carbon fiber at $5.00/lb by 2020.

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 &/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 &/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 Renewable Carbon Fiber FOA informational Webinar was held Thursday, February 13, 2:30 p.m - 3:30 p.m. EST.  Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. Below is a YouTube link to the webinar presentation.

BioenergyKDF YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YW2ZH-bnIY  

The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is soliciting feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to advanced biofuel, bioproducts, and biopower technology validation and potential deployment strategies.  EERE is specifically interested in information on advanced biofuel, bioproducts, and biopower technologies that are ready for technology validation at a Technology Readiness Level of 6 or higher. 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator”.

BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan, to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. These technical challenges and barriers form the basis for BETO to issue funding opportunities announcements (FOAs) for financial assistance awards in these specific areas. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

The purpose of this Notice to provide potential applicants advance notice that the BETO, on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled Bioenergy Technologies Incubator.  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 2014.