Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002638 | DE FOA 0002637

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002637

Notice of Intent DE-FOA-0002638 describes the Department of Energy's plan, through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and its Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), to release a forthcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries." This notice is essentially an early heads-up to the public that DOE expects to open a competitive funding round focused on scaling up biofuel and bioproduct technologies, with an emphasis on moving promising pathways closer to real-world deployment. Because it is only a notice of intent, the details are not final and DOE explicitly states that all information may change once the actual FOA is issued.

The planned FOA targets BETO's highest-priority research and development areas for fiscal year 2022 and spans two major BETO programs: Advanced Algal Systems and Systems Development and Integration. In practical terms, that means DOE is signaling interest both in algae-based approaches (such as algae cultivation systems and downstream processing that can lead to fuels and bioproducts) and in broader integrated biorefinery development (the coordinated set of unit operations needed to take a biomass feedstock through conversion and upgrading into finished fuels and products). The overall theme is scale-up: taking technologies that have shown promise at smaller scales and pushing them toward integrated, larger-scale demonstrations that reduce technical risk and improve readiness for commercial adoption.

A core driver for the opportunity is alignment with federal climate and bioeconomy priorities. The notice ties the planned funding to the White House priority of strengthening the domestic bioeconomy and to BETO's own performance targets for 2030: reaching a minimum fuel selling price of $2.50 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) and achieving at least a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-based baselines. Those targets are important because they frame what "success" looks like for applicants: projects are expected to show a credible path to lower costs and substantially lower life-cycle emissions, not just incremental lab improvements.

The intended application focus is also very specific about end uses where low-carbon liquid fuels are most needed and hardest to replace with direct electrification. The notice highlights low-GHG fuels for aviation, long-haul trucking, and marine sectors. These markets typically require high energy density fuels and have operational constraints that make drop-in or near drop-in liquid fuels especially valuable. By emphasizing these sectors, BETO is pointing applicants toward sustainable aviation fuel-type pathways and other advanced biofuels suitable for heavy-duty transport and shipping, especially where scale-up and integration challenges remain major barriers.

DOE also notes that this FOA is meant to continue the general priorities and strategies from BETO's earlier FY21 "Scale-up and Conversion" FOA (DE-FOA-0002396). That reference suggests continuity in the kinds of projects DOE wants to see: integrated systems, real operating data, scale-relevant validation, and a strong techno-economic and environmental performance case, rather than purely exploratory research. In other words, the underlying message is that DOE is looking for projects that can credibly bridge the gap between pilot demonstrations and commercial-scale confidence.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and is expected to use a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically implies substantial DOE involvement during project execution (for example, federal project management input, negotiated milestones, and ongoing technical oversight). The eligible applicant pool is described as unrestricted, meaning the competition is open to any entity type as allowed by the final FOA text (commonly including companies, universities, national laboratories, nonprofits, and potentially consortia), though applicants would still need to comply with any specific eligibility rules and cost-share requirements that appear in the released FOA.

Finally, the notice explains how and when to track the opportunity. DOE planned to issue the FOA around December 2021 and to manage the process through the EERE Exchange website (eere-exchange.energy.gov). Interested parties are encouraged to register in EERE Exchange to receive official updates, and DOE states that applications will be accepted only through that portal once the FOA is live. DOE also makes clear it will not answer questions about the notice itself; a formal Q and A process would begin only after the FOA is officially released.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002638" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 29, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 20, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002637

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