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