Bioenergy Technologies Office Overcoming Barriers to Renewable Fuel Scale-up and Demonstration Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0002615 | DE FOA 0002615

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002615

The Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and its Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), issued this opportunity as a Request for Information (RFI) focused on the practical challenges of scaling up U.S. renewable fuel production. It is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and it does not provide funding or accept project applications. Instead, it is a structured way for DOE to gather real-world input from companies and other stakeholders who are developing or producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, and renewable marine fuels, especially those trying to move from lab and bench work into pilot- and demonstration-scale operations. DOE is using the feedback to help estimate how much domestic renewable fuel capacity could realistically come online by 2030 and to better understand what is slowing deployment across different technology pathways.

At its core, the RFI is asking, "How close are you to scaling, what is getting in the way, and what could DOE do that would actually help?" BETO is looking for perspectives from industry, technology developers, universities, national laboratories, government agencies, and other knowledgeable groups. The emphasis is on the full chain of scale-up, including process performance at larger scales, engineering and integration issues, equipment and materials constraints, financing and risk, feedstock availability and cost, permitting and siting hurdles, and the ability to meet fuel specifications and market requirements. The focus on SAF and marine fuels reflects the broader national push to decarbonize hard-to-electrify transportation sectors where drop-in liquid fuels are likely to remain important for years.

DOE organized the RFI into six topic categories. Category 1, Biofuel Pathway Scale-up Forecasts, seeks estimates and projections from stakeholders about which pathways are likely to scale fastest, what volumes might be achievable by 2030, and what assumptions drive those projections (for example, feedstock access, capital build rates, or policy conditions). Category 2, Barriers to Scale-up of SAF, Marine, and Renewable Diesel Technologies, asks for the specific technical, operational, and commercial barriers that show up when moving into pilot and demonstration plants, such as catalyst durability, process yields, impurities, separations challenges, upgrading requirements, hydrogen supply, reliability at continuous operation, and meeting ASTM and other fuel qualification standards.

Category 3, Leveraging First Generation Ethanol and Other Incumbent Industries, targets opportunities to use existing U.S. biofuel and industrial assets as a springboard for faster and cheaper deployment. BETO is explicitly interested in how first-generation corn ethanol infrastructure, supply chains, and site assets could be adapted for new fuels or for intermediate products that feed advanced pathways. This category also invites input on lowering the carbon intensity of current corn production, since that can materially affect lifecycle emissions scores for fuels derived from those systems and can influence eligibility and value in markets that reward low-carbon fuels.

Category 4, BETO Scale-up of Biotechnologies Strategy, looks for guidance on how DOE should shape its strategy to accelerate scale-up specifically for biotechnology-based conversion routes (for example, fermentation, engineered microbes, enzyme systems, or other bioprocessing approaches). Stakeholders are encouraged to identify where biotechnologies tend to hit scale-up bottlenecks and what kinds of shared resources, validation efforts, or demonstration support would make the biggest difference. Category 5, Leveraging National Laboratory Process Development Units (PDU) to Scale-up Renewable Fuels, asks whether and how DOE national lab facilities could be used more effectively as intermediates between bench research and commercial plants, including what capabilities are missing, how access should be structured, and what types of campaigns or partnerships would be most valuable. Category 6, Feedstock Production and Supply, broadens the discussion to feedstock issues, such as production practices, logistics, preprocessing, storage, quality specifications, cost volatility, and sustainability considerations, because even a strong conversion technology can stall without a dependable, scalable, and affordable feedstock system.

Administratively, the RFI was open broadly (eligible applicants listed as unrestricted), reflecting that DOE wanted wide input rather than proposals from a narrow set of applicants. The opportunity is listed under CFDA 81.087 (energy-related assistance programs), managed by the DOE Golden Field Office, and it was posted on EERE Exchange. Responses were required to be submitted by email to BiofuelsFY22RFI@ee.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 31, 2022. DOE required responses as Microsoft Word (.docx) attachments, limited to 10 pages, using 12-point font and 1-inch margins, with a practical note that attachments over 25 MB should be compressed to avoid delivery problems. DOE also offered an optional alternative or supplement to written submissions: respondents could request a 30-minute one-on-one discussion with BETO staff, either to talk through their written responses or, if needed, to provide feedback verbally.

Overall, this RFI is best understood as DOE doing market and technical discovery to shape future actions: mapping which renewable fuel pathways are closest to commercial readiness, identifying the biggest scale-up chokepoints, exploring how existing ethanol and other industrial infrastructure could reduce costs and timelines, and determining where national labs and BETO programs could play a targeted role in de-risking pilot and demonstration work. The output DOE is looking for is practical, experience-based input that can inform planning and potentially future funding directions, rather than project proposals competing for awards.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bioenergy Technologies Office Overcoming Barriers to Renewable Fuel Scale-up and Demonstration Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0002615" 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 Dec 23, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 31, 2022. (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.

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