Small Business Bioenergy Technologies Increasing Community Partnerships

a. Small
Business Bioenergy Technologies Increasing Community Partnerships

This subtopic encourages
submission of innovative research proposals from bioenergy small businesses to
develop a community-scale preliminary design package of their products and/or
processes and engage community stakeholders to assess desirability and
feasibility of the small business’ proposed design.



Bioenergy feedstock development
and deployment can strengthen economic growth, national energy security, and
environmental benefits through optimizing domestic biomass resources to produce
biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. Public perception and knowledge of
bioenergy is highly variable [1], so despite the benefits, local communities
may be unaware or uncertain about the available opportunities. Bioenergy small
businesses are uniquely positioned to develop community-scale technologies and
technological processes. Examples include small-scale solutions to recover
nutrients and energy from waste, such as urban food waste; use of energy crops
on marginal lands to manage fertilizer runoff; or use of algae to abate costs
of wastewater treatment.



The preliminary design package
should include identification and siting of appropriate feedstock(s), lab-scale
testing of potential feedstock(s), relevant products (biofuel, bioproducts,
and/or biopower), outreach to potential community stakeholder partner(s), and
an education and outreach plan for the community, based on the bioenergy
project.



Proposers are strongly encouraged
to develop partnerships with local stakeholders in underserved communities such
as those within Federally-designated Opportunity Zones [2]. Community
stakeholders could include schools, hospitals, local restaurants and other
businesses, non-profits, local government, or other local organizations.
Applicants that propose partnerships with entities that operate at higher
levels, like state or regional, should emphasize how their project will deliver
measurable impact at the community level.



Appropriate projects could
include, but are not limited to, a preliminary design package proposing:

·
A conversion process treating local sources of biomass.

·
Opportunities for use of the resulting product or products within
the community.

·
Cultivating energy crops to reduce fertilizer runoff to improve
local water quality.

·
Integration of the small business’ technologies into
complementary, existing local infrastructure.

·
Small business’ processes’ ability to meet local regulatory needs
(e.g., recycling rates or waste diversion goals).

·
Replicability of the process in other communities.



Applications must:

·
meaningfully include plans/methodology for local stakeholders’
input in the development of their preliminary design package.

·
include an education and outreach plan to demonstrate the planned
benefits for the community.



Applications that propose the
following will not be considered for award under this subtopic:

·
Use versions of technologies that already exist at the community
scale.



The main objective of a Phase I
award is developing a preliminary design package of their technology, product,
or process deployed at the community scale and derived from stakeholder input.
In Phase I the majority of research emphasis is placed on evaluating and
testing unknowns of integrating the technology at the community scale with
their specific stakeholder group(s) rather than on developing a new technology.
Some unknowns include technology performance parameters to better support the
local economy and public acceptance of the technology.



Phase II of this topic involves
deployment of the proposed technology into the community at a pilot scale.



Questions – Contact: Devinn
Lambert, Devinn.Lambert@ee.doe.gov.