Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002657
DE-FOA-0002657 is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) request for information (RFI) issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), specifically to support planning by DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). Even though it carries a FOA-style identifier, it is not a funding opportunity and does not accept grant applications. Instead, DOE is gathering input from a wide range of stakeholders to shape future Conversion Research and Development priorities and to keep BETO's techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA) work aligned with what researchers and industry actually need.
The RFI focuses on three technical areas where DOE wants practical feedback about gaps, barriers, and promising approaches. The first area is improving the robustness of microbial cells used in bioenergy and bioproduct conversion pathways. This typically relates to how well production organisms perform under real-world process conditions, including stressors like inhibitors in biomass-derived hydrolysates, variable feedstock quality, high product titers that can become toxic to the cells, contamination pressure, temperature and pH swings, and scale-up effects that often reduce performance compared to bench-scale results. DOE is looking for perspectives on what is currently limiting microbial stability, productivity, and tolerance, and what R&D directions would meaningfully improve resilience in operating environments that resemble industrial conditions.
The second area is improving the robustness of catalytic processes used in conversion, which generally concerns the stability, lifetime, selectivity, and performance consistency of catalysts when exposed to realistic feeds and operating conditions. Stakeholder feedback here commonly includes issues like catalyst deactivation (for example, coking, poisoning by impurities, sintering, or leaching), sensitivity to feedstock-derived contaminants, process upsets, regeneration strategies, and the tradeoffs between activity, selectivity, and durability. DOE is essentially asking what catalyst robustness problems most often prevent reliable, cost-effective operation at scale, and what types of research, testing protocols, or validation environments would best accelerate progress.
The third area is state-of-technology (SOT) analyses across the BETO research portfolio. SOT work is meant to provide an objective snapshot of current performance and cost for key conversion pathways, often feeding into TEA and LCA to benchmark progress and inform R&D targets. DOE is seeking feedback on how these analyses can remain useful and credible to both the research community and industry, including what assumptions should be updated, what data gaps most undermine confidence, how uncertainty should be handled, and what reporting formats make results more actionable. In practice, this can involve topics like harmonizing assumptions across pathways, improving transparency and reproducibility, incorporating scale-up realities, and ensuring that SOT metrics reflect what matters for deployment.
From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed under the DOE Golden Field Office, categorized as discretionary, and associated with the Energy activity area under CFDA 81.087. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity could submit information (industry, universities, national labs, government agencies, and other stakeholders), as long as they follow the instructions in the RFI. Importantly, there are no expected awards and no funding attached to this notice, and fields like an "award ceiling" are not meaningful in the way they would be for a real grant solicitation.
Responses were required to be submitted by email to FY22ConversionRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on March 11, 2022. DOE required submissions as attachments to an email in Microsoft Word (.docx) format, limited to six pages, using 12-point font and one-inch margins. Only electronic responses were accepted, and DOE recommended compressing files larger than 25 MB (for example, by zipping) to improve deliverability. The full RFI text and any additional formatting or content guidance were provided through the EERE Exchange site at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/.
Overall, DE-FOA-0002657 is best understood as DOE's effort to collect grounded, experience-based input on where bioconversion organisms and catalytic systems fail in practice, and how BETO can prioritize R&D and analytical benchmarking so that future work targets the most consequential robustness and performance bottlenecks in bioenergy conversion pathways.Apply for DE FOA 0002657
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DE-FOA-0002657" 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 Feb 01, 2022.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 11, 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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FAQs - DOE DE-FOA-0002657 (Request for Information)
What is DE-FOA-0002657?
DE-FOA-0002657 is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to support planning by DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).
Is DE-FOA-0002657 a grant or funding opportunity?
No. Even though it uses a FOA-style identifier, this notice is not a funding opportunity and it does not accept grant applications. DOE is collecting stakeholder input to help shape future priorities and analyses.
What is the purpose of this RFI?
The purpose is to gather practical, experience-based feedback from stakeholders to inform future BETO Conversion Research and Development priorities and to keep BETO's techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA) work aligned with the needs of researchers and industry.
What office within DOE is associated with this RFI?
The RFI is issued by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is intended to support planning by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).
Which DOE field office is listed for this opportunity?
The notice is listed under the DOE Golden Field Office.
What is the CFDA number and activity area listed for this RFI?
The opportunity is associated with the Energy activity area under CFDA 81.087.
Who is eligible to respond?
Eligibility is described as unrestricted. Any type of entity may submit information (including industry, universities, national laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders) as long as they follow the RFI instructions.
Are there any awards, award ceilings, or funding amounts associated with this RFI?
No. DOE states there are no expected awards and no funding attached to this notice. Fields like an "award ceiling" are not meaningful for this RFI in the way they would be for an actual grant solicitation.
What technical areas does the RFI focus on?
The RFI requests input in three areas: (1) robustness of microbial cells used in bioenergy/bioproduct conversion pathways, (2) robustness of catalytic processes used in conversion, and (3) state-of-technology (SOT) analyses across the BETO research portfolio.
What does DOE mean by improving the robustness of microbial cells?
DOE is asking about limitations and R&D needs related to how well production organisms perform under realistic process conditions. Examples mentioned include inhibitors in biomass-derived hydrolysates, variable feedstock quality, high product titers that can become toxic, contamination pressure, temperature and pH swings, and scale-up effects that reduce performance compared to bench-scale results.
What kinds of microbial issues is DOE trying to understand?
DOE is seeking perspectives on what currently limits microbial stability, productivity, and tolerance, and which research directions would meaningfully improve resilience under operating environments that resemble industrial conditions.
What does DOE mean by improving the robustness of catalytic processes?
This refers to catalyst stability, lifetime, selectivity, and performance consistency when exposed to realistic feeds and operating conditions. DOE is looking for feedback on barriers and approaches that would improve reliable, cost-effective operation at scale.
What catalyst robustness challenges are specifically mentioned?
The RFI highlights common issues such as catalyst deactivation (including coking, poisoning by impurities, sintering, or leaching), sensitivity to feedstock-derived contaminants, process upsets, regeneration strategies, and tradeoffs between activity, selectivity, and durability.
What are State-of-Technology (SOT) analyses in this context?
SOT analyses are intended to provide an objective snapshot of current cost and performance for key conversion pathways. They often feed into TEA and LCA to benchmark progress and inform research and development targets.
What feedback is DOE seeking about SOT analyses?
DOE is seeking input on how SOT analyses can remain useful and credible to both researchers and industry, including which assumptions should be updated, what data gaps most undermine confidence, how uncertainty should be handled, and what reporting formats make results more actionable.
What examples of SOT improvement topics are mentioned?
Examples include harmonizing assumptions across pathways, improving transparency and reproducibility, incorporating scale-up realities, and ensuring SOT metrics reflect what matters for deployment.
How were responses required to be submitted?
Responses were required to be submitted by email as attachments.
What email address was used for submissions?
Responses were required to be emailed to FY22ConversionRFI@ee.doe.gov.
What was the submission deadline for the RFI?
Responses were due no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on March 11, 2022.
What file format was required for the response attachment?
DOE required submissions to be provided in Microsoft Word (.docx) format.
Was there a page limit or formatting requirement?
Yes. Responses were limited to six pages and were required to use 12-point font and one-inch margins.
Were paper submissions accepted?
No. Only electronic responses were accepted.
What if the response file was larger than 25 MB?
DOE recommended compressing files larger than 25 MB (for example, by zipping) to improve email deliverability.
Where could applicants find the full RFI text and any additional guidance?
The full RFI text and any additional formatting or content guidance were provided through the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/.
Why does this notice have a FOA-style identifier if it is not funding?
The notice carries a FOA-style identifier (DE-FOA-0002657), but DOE explicitly describes it as an RFI intended for information gathering and planning, not as a mechanism to accept grant applications or make awards.
What is DOE trying to accomplish overall with DE-FOA-0002657?
Overall, DOE is collecting grounded feedback on where bioconversion organisms and catalytic systems fail in practice and how BETO can prioritize R&D and analytical benchmarking so future work targets the most consequential robustness and performance bottlenecks in bioenergy conversion pathways.
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