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