As part of US President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Advanced Biofuels, for up to US$9.4 million for the development of advanced biofuels.
This investment through a new agreement between EPA and DOE is funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and will support high-impact biofuel technology projects to improve the performance and reduce the cost of biofuel production technologies, scale up production systems in partnership with industry, and accelerate the American bioeconomy.
Advancing renewable and sustainable energy sources is essential to achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious clean energy and climate goals.
Investing in bioenergy technologies provides a path forward to meet the growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel and other low-carbon biofuels. This joint DOE and EPA investment in a clean energy future is a great example of interagency partnership to further President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), DOE.
Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from renewable biological sources, including plants and algae.
When responsibly sourced, biofuel production in the United States can help strengthen the rural economy, reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil, and support domestic production of cleaner fuels that can reduce some undesirable environmental impacts of fossil fuel production and use.
EPA is proud to partner with DOE in setting up this funding to advance President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This investment through the Inflation Reduction Act will spur innovation in the production of advanced biofuels, advancing this Administration’s goal to build a stronger clean energy economy, said Joseph Goffman, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
The FOA will fund selected projects in two priority areas:
- Topic Area 1: Pre-Pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefinery Technologies Topic Area 1 will support the development of scaling up key process step(s) already developed at the bench-top scale. The funding opportunity would require the verification of the work at the bench-top scale, and then support the development of the process step(s) at the pilot scale. Work would entail designing and building the pilot-scale process step(s) and then performing an operational test. The proposed key step(s) 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 the pilot or demonstration scale; and
- Topic Area 2: Biointermediate Processing Toolbox – Topic Area 2 will support the development and pilot-scale testing of key technology innovations for processing bio-intermediates, which are feedstocks that have been partially converted at one facility but are then sent to a separate facility for their final processing into a renewable fuel; for example, co-processing biocrudes in legacy petroleum refinery infrastructure. Work would entail employing a technology feature to improve biointermediate processing, and then performing a pilot-scale operational test, along with employing a method to measure the biogenic carbon in the co-processed fuel if the biointermediate is co-processed with petroleum.
Domestic businesses, educational institutions, and nonprofits are eligible to apply for the funding, which will be administered by DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).
FOA applicants will be required to explain how their proposed project meets EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) definition of an advanced biofuel.
DOE envisions awarding one or more financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements lasting approximately 36 months.
The FOA concept paper deadline is March 22, 2024, and full applications are due by May 24, 2024.
