FY 2019 BETO-Wide RFI | DE FOA 0002150

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002150

The FY 2019 BETO-Wide RFI (DE-FOA-0002150) is a Request for Information issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), specifically the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), to gather input on research and development directions in bioenergy. The main goal is not to award grants, but to collect practical feedback from industry, universities, national labs, government agencies, and other stakeholders so BETO can refine its priorities and shape future funding strategies. In other words, it is an intelligence-gathering step meant to confirm which research areas are most relevant, timely, and appropriate for federal investment, and how those areas should be framed to align with Administration priorities.

This RFI focuses on four major topic areas that reflect BETO interest in improving the economics, scalability, and real-world deployment of biofuels and bioproducts. First, BETO is looking at how to leverage existing first-generation corn-starch ethanol facilities by adding advanced processes and retrofits that could enable co-production of cellulosic biofuels and additional products. This topic is essentially about upgrading the current ethanol industry footprint rather than building entirely new infrastructure, with the idea that existing plants could become platforms for next-generation, higher-value, or lower-carbon products through bolt-on technologies, process integration, and new conversion pathways.

Second, BETO is requesting information on systems to handle commingled food waste streams, with an emphasis on using waste food to produce fuels and chemicals. This topic recognizes that real-world food waste is messy and variable (often mixed with packaging, contaminants, and varying moisture and composition), so BETO is seeking insights into the collection, preprocessing, sorting, decontamination, logistics, and conversion challenges that must be solved to make food-waste-to-products pathways reliable and cost-effective. Stakeholder input here would help identify where technology gaps, infrastructure constraints, and operational risks are preventing broader adoption.

Third, BETO is exploring the idea of bridging industry and government to collect, curate, and publish existing high-impact bioenergy data that is currently under-used or economically stranded. The intent is to surface datasets that already exist but are not accessible, standardized, or widely shared due to proprietary barriers, lack of resources for curation, inconsistent formats, or limited incentives to publish. BETO is effectively asking where there are opportunities to unlock value and accelerate innovation by making certain datasets available, whether those datasets relate to feedstock supply, conversion performance, techno-economic assumptions, life-cycle analysis parameters, or operational lessons learned.

Fourth, the RFI seeks information on algal biomass feedstock quality and the interface between feedstock characteristics and conversion performance for biofuels and bioproducts. This topic centers on how algae quality metrics (such as composition, variability, and contaminants) affect downstream processing and product yields, and what research is needed to better connect cultivation and harvesting conditions with conversion outcomes. By focusing on the feedstock-quality-to-conversion interface, BETO is signaling interest in reducing uncertainty and improving predictability across the algae value chain so that algal-based fuels and products can move closer to commercial viability.

Administratively, this opportunity is categorized as a discretionary DOE action listed under CFDA 81.087, administered through the DOE Golden Field Office, with the RFI posted on EERE Exchange. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity could submit information, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full RFI text. Importantly, the notice lists no expected awards and does not function as a Funding Opportunity Announcement; it is purely a request for stakeholder responses and does not accept funding applications. The RFI opened on August 6, 2019, and responses were due by September 6, 2019, with full details available via the EERE Exchange listing for DE-FOA-0002150.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2019 BETO-Wide RFI" 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 Aug 06, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 06, 2019. (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 0002150

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