DOE to Issue Additional FOA to Support Scale-up of Biorefineries

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has announced its intent to issue a second funding opportunity to support the scale-up of biofuel and bioproduct biorefineries.

The DOE issued an initial funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in April 2021 and in August 2021 announced funding for 11 projects designed to support research and development to improve and produce algae and municipal solid waste (MSW) feedstocks for the production of biofuels, biopower and bioproducts. A statement released by DOE on Oct. 29 explains that the initial FOA was targeted towards applicants who still needed to assemble design packages.

The second FOA, funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office, aims to accelerate the scale-up of biofuel and bioproduct biorefineries. The DOE said this includes efforts for pre-pilot, pilot and demonstration scale projects and will allow for both projects that are in the planning phase as well as those that already have a design package and are ready to construct, including previously funded awards that were selected under previous FOAs for design work.

The new FOA will cover two BETO programs: Advanced Algae Systems and Systems Development and Integration. Both topic areas support the White House’s priority for advancing the domestic bioeconomy and support BETO’s program goal to achieve $2.50 per gallon gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) and at least a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, according to the DOE’s notice.

The DOE also noted that the FOA is specifically designed to support the production of low-GHG fuels for aviation, long-haul trucking, and marine transport.

EERE plans to issue the full FOA in December. Additional information is available on the Grants.gov website. READ MORE

Excerpt from Grants.gov: 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. READ MORE