RFI: Engineered Strategies for Net-Negative Emissions Pathways via Enhanced Terrestrial Ecosystems | DE FOA 0002577

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002577

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) issued this notice as a Request for Information (RFI) titled "Engineered Strategies for Net-Negative Emissions Pathways via Enhanced Terrestrial Ecosystems" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002577). Even though it appears in the same ecosystem as grant announcements, it is not a funding opportunity and it is not asking for proposals, budgets, or applications for financial assistance. Instead, it is a market and technical sounding exercise meant to gather ideas, technical perspectives, and program design input from the broader research and development community before ARPA-E decides whether to launch a future funding program in this area.

The central focus of the RFI is terrestrial carbon removal and long-term sequestration, specifically strategies that could enable net-negative emissions by improving how land-based ecosystems capture and store carbon. ARPA-E is looking for insights on multiple routes, including approaches that can operate in parallel (complementary options that could be pursued simultaneously) as well as approaches that are mutually exclusive (choices where one path might displace or outperform another, or where they compete for the same land, resources, or infrastructure). The RFI explicitly invites concepts that leverage recent advances across biological technologies (for example, plant or microbe-centered solutions), geochemical technologies (for example, mineral interactions or soil chemistry pathways that stabilize carbon), and hybrid approaches that intentionally combine biological and geochemical mechanisms to improve permanence, scalability, cost, or measurement.

A major theme is the engineered enhancement of terrestrial ecosystems to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere and keep it stored for longer periods, in forms that are durable and verifiable. In practical terms, ARPA-E is trying to understand what kinds of interventions could move beyond incremental improvements and instead deliver the type of large-scale carbon removal that would matter in the near to medium term. That includes not just the core science, but also the surrounding issues that typically determine whether a carbon removal pathway can be deployed widely: how quickly it can scale, what the land and water requirements look like, how permanence is ensured, how environmental and agricultural co-benefits or tradeoffs are handled, and how measurement, reporting, and verification might be performed in real-world settings.

The RFI also highlights a specific interest in Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) as a net-negative pathway and asks for input on how agricultural systems and feedstock crops could be engineered and bred to make BECCS more economically viable and practical at scale. This part of the RFI is essentially asking: if BECCS is going to play a meaningful role in near-term carbon removal, what needs to change upstream at the level of crops, biomass characteristics, agronomic systems, and supply chains? ARPA-E is seeking ideas on how to develop or improve feedstocks and agricultural practices so that biomass production aligns better with cost-effective carbon capture, conversion, transport, and storage, while still fitting within real constraints like farm economics, soil health, regional suitability, and sustainability.

From an administrative standpoint, ARPA-E makes several points very clear. Submitting information is voluntary, and there is no compensation for responses. ARPA-E may use any submitted information to support internal program planning, and it may do so without attributing ideas to the submitter. The eligible respondent pool is described as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity can provide input (industry, universities, nonprofits, national labs, individuals, and others), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full RFI text. While the listing includes fields commonly associated with grants (such as "Cooperative Agreement" and CFDA 81.135), this RFI itself does not make awards, has an award ceiling of $0, and expects 0 awards, reinforcing that it is strictly a planning and information-gathering notice rather than a solicitation.

Responses were requested in PDF format and were to be submitted by email to ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2021. ARPA-E directed interested parties to review the full RFI at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov for complete instructions and context. The overarching takeaway is that ARPA-E is exploring how engineered biological, geochemical, and hybrid terrestrial strategies could contribute to scalable, durable net-negative emissions, and it is collecting community input to shape the technical scope and structure of a potential future ARPA-E research program.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the opportunity zone benefits, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "RFI: Engineered Strategies for Net-Negative Emissions Pathways via Enhanced Terrestrial Ecosystems" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 08, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 22, 2021 Reponses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 500 p.m. Eastern Time on 10/22/2021. For further instruction, please review the RFI in its entirety at https://apra-e-foa.energy.gov.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• 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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