EERE Funding Opportunities

The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) supports the development of a globally competitive U.S. energy industrial base that drives supply chain resiliency and energy security through materials and manufacturing innovation. The development of circular supply chains that enable efficient use of materials through reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycling is important toward accomplishing these goals. Efforts to achieve a robust and competitive manufacturing sector through innovation in circular supply chains cannot be successful without: (1) a comprehensive understanding of the landscape of technical and non-technical factors that could impact the adoption of emerging technologies and (2) strong connections across the circularity field to accelerate innovations from R&D-scale to commercial practice. This NOFO seeks to establish a new accelerator which will address this need through the development of a comprehensive technical and market analysis portfolio and stakeholder engagement activities.

The Accelerator’s analysis portfolio will establish a comprehensive understanding of both technical and non-technical factors impacting the adoption of emerging technologies for circular supply chains. Technical factors of interest include the state of emerging technologies in terms of performance and cost metrics. Awareness of these technical factors requires strong understanding of the R&D landscape as well as the state of industrial practice. Non-technical factors of interest include market conditions, supply chain dynamics, policy and regulatory landscape, workforce readiness, infrastructure capabilities, among others. These non-technical market factors may be region-specific and would be critical to inform a systems-level perspective of potential barriers and pathways to widespread commercial adoption. The Accelerator will leverage understanding of technical and non-technical factors to analyze market opportunity within specific product and material market segments. This will identify specific early adopter markets and sequential pathways to more broadly scale the deployment of emerging technologies for greater impact. Opportunities to leverage advancements in emerging technologies and market tools (e.g., standards, offtake agreements, verification frameworks, data systems, etc.) across product and material segments will also be identified.

The Accelerator’s stakeholder engagement activities will cultivate a range of stakeholders that are critical to both supporting the analysis portfolio and to facilitating the coordination needed for technology adoption for circular supply chains. These stakeholder engagement activities will strengthen relationships with industry members to support increased sharing of data and best practices as there are many synergistic technology needs across different product and material segments. These programs will enable enhanced diffusion of advancements in emerging technologies, business models and market tools throughout the circularity field. Most importantly, these stakeholder engagement activities will establish and cultivate relationships between potential performer groups that will strengthen the innovation ecosystem needed to deliver on other funded programs focused on building circular supply chain technologies.

Please see the full NOFO in the DOCUMENTS section below.

Questions regarding the NOFO must be submitted to Circularity.NOFO.FY25@ee.doe.gov.

Please note: In the event that an application experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov.

SMASH Incubator seeks to address the lack of sufficient private investment that is available to successfully commercialize the output of research, development, and demonstration activities and bring innovative solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to market.

Specifically, projects funded through this NOFO will encourage innovations in solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing across the supply chain, with the aim of reducing U.S. reliance on imported materials and technologies. This NOFO also encourages the development of new solar hardware and technology for domestic use and potential export. These activities are expected to deliver jobs and economic growth in the clean energy sector, while increasing national energy security.

Topic Area 1 seeks to conduct early-stage pilot-scale testing and demonstration of innovative processes or products that can substantively increase domestic manufacturing in all segments of the crystalline silicon solar module supply chain. Each segment also includes the manufacturing equipment used in that segment, input materials for that segment, process control and characterization tools, and consumables used in that segment, which today are predominantly made outside the United States.

Topic Area 2 aims to support the cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV industry, an increasingly valuable part of the U.S. economy and leading domestic renewable energy technology. All segments of the CdTe PV module supply chain are of interest, including improvements in materials, processes, manufacturing, components, metrology, demonstration, recycling, and reclamation.

Topic Area 3 is focused on R&D and demonstration activities with the goal of de-risking new non-module PV components and manufacturing processes, while developing and validating a realistic pathway to commercial success. This includes structural and electrical components and tools that can be made domestically and improve performance, functionality, reliability, or ease of installation for PV systems.

Mod 002: the FOA will be amended on 1/22/25 to remove the Environmental Considerations Summary requirement.

Mod 001:

The purpose of this modification is to:

• Added information regarding cost share of Tribes and Tribal Nations pursuant to EERE's uniform cost share reduction.

The activities to be funded under this NOFO support BIL sections 41007(b)(2) and the broader government-wide approach to strengthen critical domestic manufacturing and supply chains and to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. This BIL section, through reference to section 3003(b)(4) of the Energy Act of 2020, addresses:

• Research and development projects to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of wind energy technologies, including—
• by increasing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the recovery of raw materials from wind energy technology components and systems
• by minimizing potential environmental impacts from the recovery and disposal processes;
• by advancing technologies and processes for the disassembly and recycling of wind energy devices;
• by developing alternative materials, designs, manufacturing processes, and other aspects of wind energy technologies and the disassembly and resource recovery process that enable efficient, cost effective, and environmentally responsible disassembly of, and resource recovery from, wind energy technologies; and
• strategies to increase consumer acceptance of, and participation in, the recycling of wind energy technologies

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

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

Please note: In the event that an application experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov.

This teaming partner list is for DE-FOA-0003373, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Provision 41007(b)(2), Wind Turbine Technology Recycling

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Provision 41007(b)(2), Wind Turbine Technology Recycling”.

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

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

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Fiscal Year 2025 Solar Module and Solar Hardware (SMASH) Incubator Notice of Funding Opportunity.”

This NOFO seeks to address the lack of sufficient private investment that is available to successfully commercialize research and development (R&D) and research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities and bring innovative solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to market. Prime recipients of awards funded through this NOFO will be for-profit entities, with institutions of higher education, for-profit entities, nonprofit entities, state and local governmental entities, and federally recognized Indian Tribes as eligible subrecipients to provide technical expertise, technology know-how, and technical validation capabilities.

Successful applications to this NOFO will be selected from three topic areas:

1. Crystalline silicon (c-Si) module technology, covering all segments of the c-Si PV module supply chain from input materials and production equipment through module assembly.
2. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) module technology, covering all segments of the CdTe PV module supply chain, including improvements in materials, processes, manufacturing, components, metrology, demonstration, recycling, and reclamation.
3. Non-module hardware technology, including structural and electrical components and tools that improve performance, functionality, reliability, or ease of installation for PV systems.

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

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

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

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

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

This Teaming Partner List is for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Materials, Operation, and Recycling of Photovoltaics (MORE PV) FOA. This FOA supports multi-stakeholder collaborations to reduce material usage, improve installation quality and resilience of PV systems, and address handling of PV systems at the end of life. This FOA calls for diverse teams to assess impact of the developed technologies on all the life stages of PV systems in terms of energy use, cost, and environmental impact. To review the full announcement details navigate to DE-FOA-0002985 in EERE Exchange.

This Teaming Partner List is available to facilitate the widest possible national participation in the formation of applicant teams for the FOA. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations that may wish to participate on a project to express their interest to other applicants and explore potential partnerships.

Updates to the Teaming Partner List will be available in the EERE Exchange website. The Teaming Partner List will be regularly updated to reflect new teaming partners who provide their organization’s information. Please include information about your organization type/characteristics in the “Background, Interest, Capabilities” field in Exchange to help other participants identify your capabilities.

FOA Modification 000001: Full Application due date extended to 11/30/2023.

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) will provide funding for multi-stakeholder collaborations to reduce material usage, improve installation quality and resilience of PV systems, and address handling of PV systems at the end of life. This FOA calls for diverse teams to assess impact of the developed technologies on all the life stages of PV systems in terms of energy use, cost, and environmental impact. The holistic technological solutions developed in the projects funded by this FOA will facilitate rapid growth of PV deployment in the U.S. in the next decade.

Topic Area 1: MORE Connection: Connecting PV Materials, Design, Installation, Performance, and End of Life

This Topic Area will use $12 million of non-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to fund collaborations of diverse stakeholders who can bring expertise from all life stages of the PV system lifecycle to reduce cost and lifecycle impacts of a PV system and its components, including co-located storage. Projects funded in this topic area will develop technology and design solutions to optimize the interconnected energy, economic, and environmental impact metrics in pursuit of rapid and sustainable scale-up of PV technologies.

Specific areas of interest include:

· Design of PV systems and PV system components that minimizes the use of materials, especially critical materials.

· Development of characterization and non-destructive testing of bill of materials (BOM) of PV system components throughout their life.

· Development and implementation of holistic design for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of PV systems that can simultaneously optimize energy, economic, and environmental metrics during the system’s useful life under relevant operating conditions, in a high deployment environment.

· Scalable hardware and software solutions for robust, error-free, low-maintenance tools, components, and methods for installation, quality management, and maintenance.

Topic Area 2: Solar Partnership to Advance Recycling and Circularity (Solar PARC)

This topic area uses funds designated by the BIL and seeks to fund one research partnership at a maximum of $8 million dedicated to improving materials recovery efficiency and developing safe end-of-life (EOL) practices for PV system components, including modules, inverters, and other balance-of-system (BOS) components. The partnership will focus on technologies and methods to enable low-cost reuse, refurbishing, repair, and recycling of photovoltaic materials, and best practices for safe disposal of these materials, and will include data collection, analysis, and working groups to enable effective collaborations and technology transfer.

The teaming list for the FOA is TPL-0000021: TEAMING PARTNER LIST FOR DE-FOA-0002985 MATERIALS, OPERATION, AND RECYCLING OF PHOTOVOLTAICS (MORE PV).

Amendment 000004: The purpose of this Amendment is to reopen the FOA to solicit Full Applications for Topic Area 4 (only), remove the requirement to submit a Concept Paper, and incorporate Pre-Selection interviews.  Topic Areas 1-3 are now closed.   

This program will provide funding to support the recycling of consumer electronics batteries and battery-containing devices to help build a robust domestic critical material supply chain for EV batteries in the United States. The funding will accomplish this by: 1) Increase participation by consumers in recycling programs; 2) Improve the economics of consumer battery recycling to create a market for recycling, including battery recycling research, development, and demonstration activities to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of batteries; and 3) Increase the number of these programs, including state and local programs to assist in the establishment or enhancement of state consumer electronics battery collection, recycling, and reprocessing programs and to establish collection points at retailers.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is:

1. Section IV. D. ix: Directs applicants to EERE eXCHANGE to access a summary slide template. Further defines the information that is required in the summary slides.

2. Section I.B.i:. In Topic 3, Subtopic 3a, removes the anode catalyst activity target for PEM electrolyzers to emphasize integrated MEA performance.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002922 on behalf of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), which coordinates hydrogen activities with offices across the Department of Energy (DOE) as described in the DOE Hydrogen Program Plan. These activities align with the DOE National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap and specific DOE initiatives. Awards made under this FOA will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,[1] more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

This FOA implements two provisions within Section 40314 of the BIL, which amended Title VIII of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 to include a new section 815, “Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling” and a new section 816, “Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program.” The FOA launches the first phase of funding for these programs and will provide up to $750 million in Federal funding, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. These activities will support the broader government-wide approach to accelerate progress in clean hydrogen technologies and maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice.

The FOA provides funding for research, development, and demonstration to:

The following topics, in two areas of interest, are included in this funding opportunity.

Area of Interest 1: Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program

Topic 1: Low Cost, High-Throughput Electrolyzer Manufacturing: Research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) that accelerates manufacturing innovations, so that electrolyzer stack manufacturers can achieve greater economies of scale.

Topic 2: Electrolyzer Component and Supply Chain Development: Research and development (R&D) of advanced components critical to accelerate the commercialization of electrolyzers

Topic 3: Advanced Electrolyzer Technology and Component Development: R&D that develops materials, components, and designs that are at lower technology readiness levels (TRL) but show promise in achieving long-term cost, performance, and lifetime goals in next generation of electrolyzer technologies.

Area of Interest 2: Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling

Topic 4: Fuel Cell Membrane Electrode Assembly and Stack Manufacturing and Automation: RD&D that accelerates fuel cell manufacturing innovation and scale-up by enabling diverse fuel cell manufacturer and supplier teams to flexibly address their greatest scale-up challenges and achieve economies of scale in medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MDV/HDV) and cross-cutting applications.

Topic 5: Fuel Cell Supply Chain Development: R&D to address critical deficiencies in the domestic supply chain for MDV/HDV fuel cell materials and components.

Topic 6: Recovery and Recycling Consortium: Establish a single, broad-based nonprofit- or university-led consortium of industry, academia, and national labs to address a range of recovery, recycling, refurbishment, and reuse challenges for fuel cell and electrolyzer stacks and components.

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

The Teaming Partner List is transferred from Notice of Intent (NOI) DE-FOA-0002921. The list will remain open and will be updated at least weekly until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

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

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

Modification 0002 Announcement
Changes include updates to the submission deadlines on the cover page (Full Application and Replies to Reviewer Comments), as well as an update to the Expected Date for EERE Selection Notifications.  

Modification 0001 Announcement
Changes include updates to the following sections:
1) IV.D.xvii Transparency of Foreign Connections
2) Appendix C.2 Waiver for Performance of Work in the United States (Foreign Work Waiver)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on behalf of the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO). The goals of this FOA are to:

• Further develop broad, foundational, manufacturing “platform” technologies and address gaps and barriers that are currently limiting use of composite materials in clean energy and decarbonization-related applications with wind energy applications as the primary FOA focus;

• Enable additive manufacturing processes for rapid prototyping, tooling, fabrication, and testing of large wind blades;

• Apply additive manufacturing to non-blade wind turbine components; and

• Mature nascent technologies, processes, and methods that improve one or more aspects of advanced composites manufacturing, including automation, and sustainability (including recycling) of these materials.

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.

Please see the full FOA in the DOCUMENTS section below.

EERE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the widest possible national participation in the formation of applicant teams for this potential FOA. The list allows organizations who may wish to participate in an application to express their interest to other potential applicants and to explore potential partners, including representation from Minority Serving Institutions (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)/Other Minority Serving Institutions); and partnerships with Minority Business Enterprises, Minority Owned Businesses, Woman Owned Businesses, Veteran Owned Businesses, or tribal nations.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling.”

The activities to be funded under this FOA support Sec. 40314 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL[1]), which amended Title VIII of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 to include a new section 815, “Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling” and a new section 816, “Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program.” Through these provisions, the BIL will invest $500 million for the development of manufacturing and recycling of clean hydrogen technologies, and $1 billion for electrolyzer development for the five (5) year period encompassing Fiscal Years (FYs) 2022 through 2026. This FOA will be an integral part of the programs developed under these provisions. In addition to this FOA (which includes up to $750M of the total $1.5B), other activities included in the programs will include funding for national laboratories, Small Business Innovative Research projects, Prizes, and additional FOAs or other funding mechanisms. These activities will support the broader government-wide approach to accelerate progress in clean hydrogen technologies and maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice.

[1] Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58 (November 15, 2021). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684. This FOA uses the more common name “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

This notice of intent (NOI) is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the nearterm. 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.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) on behalf of the Manufacturing & Energy Supply Chains Office in collaboration with the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office. This RFI seeks public input to help inform DOE’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The Information collected may be used to inform DOE planning related to the following BIL Sections.

Section 40207(e), titled Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize.

Section 40207(f) titled, Battery and Critical Mineral Recycling: Battery Recycling Research, Development, and Demonstration Grants.

Section 40208 titled, Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Program.

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

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

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

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) seeks input on priority areas that will advance domestic manufacturing and recycling of clean hydrogen technologies, including fuel cells, storage equipment, and other hydrogen related components as specified below; and on priority areas that will advance electrolyzer technologies for affordable clean hydrogen production, in alignment with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the mission of DOE’s Hydrogen Energy Earthshot to reach the goal of $1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade (“1 1 1”). This Request for Information (RFI) was developed in coordination with the Advanced Manufacturing Office. This RFI is issued to obtain feedback on the status of and opportunities for technologies that support goals in BIL section 40314, amending the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT). The BIL added a new section 815 on clean hydrogen manufacturing and recycling research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and a new section 816 for the establishment of the Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program to EPACT. The EPACT Sec. 815 activities are grouped into a Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing Initiative (815a) focused on enhancing domestic manufacturing of clean hydrogen use, storage, and related equipment and a Clean Hydrogen Technology Recycling RD&D Program (815b) that covers recycling of equipment for clean hydrogen processing, delivery, storage, and use, including fuel cells. The Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program in section 816 expands on DOE’s existing, comprehensive Program on electrolysis and is a research, development, demonstration, commercialization, and deployment program aimed at improving efficiency, increasing durability, and reducing capital costs of electrolyzers, thus facilitating the commercialization of clean hydrogen electrolyzer technology.

DOE does not intend to publish information collected through this RFI; input will be used to develop and refine the programs.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to H2RFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on March 29th, 2022. If possible, please copy and paste the RFI questions and use them as a template for your response. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25 MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (*.docx) or Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) attachment to the email. Only electronic responses will be accepted. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish.

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

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

DOE will not respond to individual submissions or publicly publish 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.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Applications”.

The anticipated FOA supports the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) goals of delivering more clean energy, create new, good-paying jobs and lowering costs for American families and workers by guiding the Nation towards a 100% carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero economy by 2050. This anticipated FOA is directed to satisfying 40208.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) No. DE-FOA-0002678 entitled Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Funding Opportunity Announcement. The Notice can be downloaded at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. The anticipated FOA supports the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation (BIL) goals of delivering more clean energy, create new, good-paying jobs and lowering costs for American families and workers by guiding the Nation towards a one hundred percent carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero economy by 2050.

The Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) funds a broad portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects to develop affordable, efficient and clean transportation options to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the development and widespread use of a variety of innovative transportation technologies. The FOA may seek applications for demonstration and commercial scale projects for processing lithium ion battery materials; and applications for demonstration and commercial scale projects for advanced lithium ion battery component manufacturing, advanced lithium ion battery manufacturing, and recycling.

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.

To support widespread PV deployment, any barriers should be considered and resolved including when PV system components reach their end-of-life (EoL). There are opportunities to improve PV EoL management techniques such as reuse, recovery, recycling, or disposal. These are not well understood since EoL volumes have been low. This RFI seeks to understand the current causes of EoL, how EoL is handled, and designs and actions to improve recycling and reuse.

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.

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 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), invests in cutting-edge research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities focused on sustainable transportation, renewable power, and energy efficiency. In 2013, EERE launched its Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI) with the goal of significantly increasing U.S. manufacturing competitiveness in the production of clean energy products and in domestic manufacturing across the board by increasing industrial energy productivity. EERE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) plays a key role in executing the mission for CEMI by supporting research and development projects, shared research facilities and technical consortia, and technical assistance programs.

AMO establishes Manufacturing Innovation Institutes in the Administration’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) as shared research, development, and demonstration facilities to overcome cross-cutting challenges related to the manufacturing of clean energy and energy efficiency products, in addition to challenges associated with improving the energy efficiency of the manufacturing sector across the board. This FOA supports the establishment of a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing EMbodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in Materials Manufacturing. This Institute will enable the development and widespread deployment of key industrial platform technologies that will dramatically reduce life-cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with industrial-scale materials production and processing through the development of technologies for reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing of materials. Solving this enormous and currently unmet challenge could significantly reduce U.S. primary energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing sector, which represents a particularly challenging sector to decarbonize, and improve U.S. manufacturing competiveness in the process.

Please click "FOA FAQs" under the "FOA Documents" heading below for Questions and Answers specific to this FOA.

EERE will conduct one informational webinar during the FOA process. It will be held after the initial FOA release but before the due date for the Concept Paper.

Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. No new information will be presented during the webinar and EERE will not answer any attendee questions during the webinar.

The informational Webinar was held June 29, 2016 at 3:00pm EDT.  A recording of the webinar can be found at the link below:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3019594656354916356

The slides as well as a transcript of the webinar is also available for download in the FOA Documents section below.

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 system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for the 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.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing EMbodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in Materials Manufacturing”.

This FOA supports the establishment of a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing EMbodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in Materials Manufacturing. This Institute will enable the development and widespread deployment of key industrial platform technologies that will dramatically reduce life-cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with industrial-scale materials production and processing through the development of technologies for reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing of materials. Solving this enormous and currently unmet challenge could significantly reduce U.S. primary energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector, which represents a particularly challenging sector to decarbonize, and improve U.S. manufacturing competiveness in the process. Analysis shows that the development and deployment of cost effective new technologies to enable significant reductions in the life-cycle embodied energy and carbon emissions for materials production in the US economy relative to the use of primary feedstocks could offer energy savings on the order of 1.6 quadrillion BTU (quads) annually across four classes of waste materials - metals, fibers, polymers, and e-waste.

The resulting Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute is expected to be a Department of Energy supported Institute participating in the interagency National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) program.

This NOI is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue a FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this NOI is subject to change. 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.

Please access the complete Notice of Intent under the "Documents" heading below.

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this NOI. 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 June 2016.

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 http://eere.energy.gov/financing/exchangeExchange/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system.

Please note, the RFI submission deadline has been extended to December 5, 2014.

The Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of a request for information (RFI) regarding the possible technical areas of research in the area of photovoltaic module recycling.  DOE intends to understand the current state of recycling technology and the areas of research that could lead to impactful recycling technologies to support the developing photovoltaic industry.  The intent of this RFI is to generate discussion related to planning for the end of life of photovoltaic modules and to create a list of high impact research topics in photovoltaics recycling. (The SUMMARY is a brief, one paragraph explanation of the “what” and “why” of the notice. Under the SUMARY caption you must answer these three questions. What action is being taken?