Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Advanced Biofuels

Background
The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The IRA Section 60108(b) authorized $10 million to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for new grants to industry in advanced biofuels. EPA and DOE entered an Interagency Agreement to transfer the funds to DOE and allow DOE to manage a FOA with substantial involvement from EPA. The FOA’s topic areas are of mutual interest for both the EPA’s priority in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and DOE BETO’s priority in the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge as well as SDI’s priority in supporting four demonstration-scale integrated biorefineries by 2030.

Grant Details
The FOA seeks projects at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 4 to scale up key process steps from laboratory scale unit operations to industrially relevant piece(s) of equipment at the pilot scale (TRL 5). Topic Area 1 will provide funding for recipients to scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the laboratory scale and into industrially relevant piece(s) of equipment.

The proposed unit operation(s) within an application are not required to comprise a fully integrated pilot-scale unit by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support future integration of the entire process at pilot- or demonstration-scale. The FOA specifically seeks projects that are responsive to R&D Community Benefits Plan, job quality, diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and Justice40 initiative.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include domestic entities and foreign entities with cost-sharing requirements.

Applicants must register in the System for Award Management (SAM) before submitting an application and maintain an active SAM registration with current information when having an active federal award or an application under consideration by a federal awarding agency.

Period of Performance
The FOA has multiple submission deadlines and expected dates for DOE selection notifications, award negotiations, and performance periods.

The FOA includes specific requirements for continuous reaction time on stream, minimum throughput, cumulative time on stream by end of project, and other metrics related to allowable feedstocks, non-allowable feedstocks, allowable fuel types, non-allowable fuel types, GHG emissions, fuel selling price, R&D Community Benefits Plan, bioproducts.

Grant Value
$9,400,000 in federal funding will be available for awards collectively made under both Topic Areas 1 and 2.

Place of Performance
All work for projects selected under this FOA must be performed in the United States.