Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001689
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001689, titled Integrated Biorefinery Optimization, is a joint competitive grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The core purpose is to help integrated biorefineries (IBRs) move from promising pilot and demonstration results into reliable, continuous, commercially competitive operation at larger scales, especially for the production of Advanced or Cellulosic Biofuels along with higher-value biobased coproducts. The federal rationale is straightforward: reduce dependence on imported petroleum, strengthen U.S. energy security, accelerate growth of a domestic bioeconomy and bioindustry, and improve environmental outcomes in the transportation sector by enabling lower-pollution fuel pathways.
The FOA is built around a practical reality that has slowed deployment: first-of-a-kind and pioneer-scale biorefineries face both technical and non-technical barriers that increase risk, delay schedules, and drive up capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx). The announcement highlights persistent pain points such as the complexity and variability of non-food biomass feedstocks, operational problems associated with moving and feeding solids through processing equipment, and the inherent recalcitrance of many lignocellulosic materials that resist efficient conversion. It also calls out common downstream bottlenecks, including inhomogeneous intermediates that lead to uneven heat and mass transfer, complicated multi-step separations and purification trains, and the frequent failure to monetize byproducts and residual streams that could otherwise improve overall project economics. Another major emphasis is the difficulty of translating bench-scale and pilot-scale learning to demonstration and commercial scales, where equipment behavior, reliability, and process integration issues often appear for the first time. Layered on top of these technical hurdles is the broader challenge of obtaining sufficient long-duration capital for industrial-scale projects, which federal support can help de-risk.
In response to those barriers, the FOA seeks projects that directly address scale-up and continuous-operations challenges in real integrated biorefinery contexts. The intent is not basic research in isolation, but applied work that measurably reduces deployment risk and accelerates commercialization of biofuels and bioproducts. Awards are made under a cooperative agreement structure, meaning recipients should expect substantial federal involvement and oversight during execution, consistent with DOE demonstration and scale-up oriented programs.
The funding opportunity is organized into four topic areas that reflect the highest-impact operational and economic constraints seen in IBRs. Topic Area 1 focuses on robust, continuous handling of solid materials and reliable feeding systems to reactors under a range of operating conditions. This includes both dry and wet feedstocks, biosolids, and residual solids generated within the process, with an emphasis on avoiding plugging, bridging, inconsistent flow, and other reliability problems that can prevent continuous operation. Topic Area 2 targets creation of higher-value products from waste or otherwise under-valued streams inside an IBR, essentially pushing applicants to improve plant economics by converting low-value residues, side streams, or wastes into salable coproducts. Topic Area 3 addresses industrial separations within an IBR, acknowledging that separation and purification steps are often among the most energy-intensive, costly, and failure-prone parts of biorefining and frequently dictate overall feasibility. Topic Area 4 supports analytical modeling of solid materials and reactor feeding systems, aiming to strengthen predictive understanding and design tools for how solids behave in handling and feeding equipment, which can improve scale-up decisions and reduce trial-and-error at commercial scale.
Administratively, the opportunity was issued by the DOE Golden Field Office under the energy funding activity category (CFDA 81.087). Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications in the FOA text. The maximum award size (award ceiling) is $3,500,000, with an expectation of around five awards. The application process ran through DOE’s EERE eXCHANGE portal, requiring applicants to register and submit materials electronically. Key deadlines in the announcement were a concept paper due February 6, 2017 at 5:00 pm ET, followed by full applications due April 3, 2017 at 5:00 pm ET. The FOA directs applicants to the full posting on EERE eXCHANGE for official requirements, submission instructions, and the designated channels for both technical questions about the announcement and logistical questions about the submission system.
Overall, DE-FOA-0001689 is best understood as a scale-up and operations-focused funding call aimed at making integrated biorefineries run more like mature, reliable industrial plants. It prioritizes the unglamorous but decisive engineering and process-integration problems that separate a successful commercial biorefinery from a facility that struggles with downtime, inconsistent throughput, high purification costs, and weak coproduct economics.Apply for DE FOA 0001689
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number: DE-FOA-0001689, Integrated Biorefinery Optimization" 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 Jan 06, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 03, 2017 Submission Deadline for Concept Papers 2/6/2017 at 500pm ET Submission Deadline for Full Applications 4/3/2017 at 500pm ET. (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 $3,500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
- 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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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - DE-FOA-0001689: Integrated Biorefinery Optimization
1) What is DE-FOA-0001689?
DE-FOA-0001689 is a U.S. government Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled Integrated Biorefinery Optimization. It is a joint competitive grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
2) What is the main purpose of this funding opportunity?
The core purpose is to help integrated biorefineries (IBRs) move from promising pilot and demonstration outcomes into reliable, continuous, commercially competitive operation at larger scales, particularly for producing Advanced or Cellulosic Biofuels along with higher-value biobased coproducts.
3) Why are DOE and USDA offering this FOA?
The stated federal rationale is to reduce dependence on imported petroleum, strengthen U.S. energy security, accelerate growth of a domestic bioeconomy and bioindustry, and improve environmental outcomes in the transportation sector by enabling lower-pollution fuel pathways.
4) What kinds of problems is this FOA trying to solve?
The FOA targets both technical and non-technical barriers that often affect first-of-a-kind and pioneer-scale biorefineries, including issues that increase risk, delay schedules, and raise capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx).
5) What feedstock-related challenges are highlighted in the FOA?
The announcement emphasizes the complexity and variability of non-food biomass feedstocks and the recalcitrance of many lignocellulosic materials, which can resist efficient conversion and complicate stable operations at scale.
6) What operational issues does the FOA mention for handling and feeding solids?
It calls out operational problems associated with moving and feeding solids through processing equipment, including reliability issues such as plugging, bridging, inconsistent flow, and other failures that prevent continuous operation.
7) What downstream processing bottlenecks does the FOA emphasize?
Examples described include inhomogeneous intermediates that cause uneven heat and mass transfer, complex multi-step separations and purification trains, and the frequent failure to monetize byproducts and residual streams that could improve overall project economics.
8) Does this FOA focus on basic research or applied scale-up work?
This FOA is positioned as applied, scale-up and continuous-operations-focused work in real integrated biorefinery contexts. The intent is not basic research in isolation, but work that measurably reduces deployment risk and accelerates commercialization of biofuels and bioproducts.
9) What funding mechanism will be used for awards?
Awards are made under a cooperative agreement structure. This means recipients should expect substantial federal involvement and oversight during project execution, consistent with DOE demonstration and scale-up oriented programs.
10) How is the FOA organized?
The funding opportunity is organized into four topic areas that reflect high-impact operational and economic constraints commonly seen in integrated biorefineries.
11) What is Topic Area 1 about?
Topic Area 1 focuses on robust, continuous handling of solid materials and reliable feeding systems to reactors under a range of operating conditions. It includes dry and wet feedstocks, biosolids, and residual solids generated within the process, with an emphasis on avoiding plugging, bridging, inconsistent flow, and other reliability problems.
12) What is Topic Area 2 about?
Topic Area 2 targets creation of higher-value products from waste or otherwise undervalued streams inside an integrated biorefinery. The goal is to improve plant economics by converting low-value residues, side streams, or wastes into salable coproducts.
13) What is Topic Area 3 about?
Topic Area 3 addresses industrial separations within an integrated biorefinery. The FOA notes that separation and purification steps are often among the most energy-intensive, costly, and failure-prone parts of biorefining and can dictate overall feasibility.
14) What is Topic Area 4 about?
Topic Area 4 supports analytical modeling of solid materials and reactor feeding systems, aiming to strengthen predictive understanding and design tools for how solids behave in handling and feeding equipment. This is intended to improve scale-up decisions and reduce trial-and-error at commercial scale.
15) Who issued this FOA?
Administratively, the opportunity was issued by the DOE Golden Field Office.
16) What is the funding activity category and CFDA number listed?
The FOA is listed under the energy funding activity category, with CFDA 81.087.
17) Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications contained in the FOA text.
18) What is the maximum award amount?
The maximum award size (award ceiling) is $3,500,000.
19) How many awards are expected?
The FOA indicates an expectation of around five awards.
20) Where were applications submitted?
The application process ran through DOE's EERE eXCHANGE portal, and applicants were required to register and submit materials electronically.
21) Was a concept paper required?
Yes. The FOA included a concept paper stage, with a stated deadline of February 6, 2017 at 5:00 pm ET.
22) What was the full application deadline?
The stated full application deadline was April 3, 2017 at 5:00 pm ET.
23) Where should applicants look for official requirements and instructions?
The FOA directs applicants to the full posting on EERE eXCHANGE for official requirements, submission instructions, and the designated channels for both technical questions about the announcement and logistical questions about the submission system.
24) What does the FOA mean by improving "continuous operation" at biorefineries?
Based on the description, the FOA is aiming at biorefineries operating more like mature industrial plants: reduced downtime, fewer solids-handling disruptions, more consistent throughput, and better-integrated process steps that can run reliably at larger scales.
25) What overarching outcome is this FOA trying to achieve for integrated biorefineries?
Overall, the FOA is best understood as a scale-up and operations-focused call intended to make integrated biorefineries more reliable and commercially competitive by addressing practical engineering and process-integration barriers, including solids handling, coproduct value generation, separations bottlenecks, and predictive modeling for feeding systems.
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