EERE Archived Funding Opportunities

** 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.