Amendment 000001 - BETO IRA DE-FOA-0003178.docx

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Advanced Biofuels

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number: DE-FOA-0003178 FOA Type: Mod 000001 Assistance Listing Number: 81.087

· Applicants must submit a Concept Paper by 5 p.m. ET on the due date listed above to be eligible to submit a Full Application.

· To apply to this FOA, applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE eXCHANGE at https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov/, EERE’s online application portal.

· Applicants must designate primary and backup points-of-contact in EERE eXCHANGE with whom EERE will communicate to conduct award negotiations. If an application is selected for award negotiations, it is not a commitment to issue an award. It is imperative that the applicant/selectee be responsive during award negotiations and meet negotiation deadlines. Failure to do so may result in cancelation of further award negotiations and rescission of the selection.

· Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) - Each applicant (unless the applicant is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110) is required to: (1) register in the SAM at https://www.sam.gov before submitting an application; (2) provide a valid UEI number in the application; and (3) maintain an active SAM registration with current information when the applicant has an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal awarding agency. DOE may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time DOE is ready to make a federal award, DOE will determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

NOTE: Due to the high number of UEI requests and SAM registrations, entity legal business name and address validations are taking longer than expected to process. Entities should start the UEI and SAM registration process as soon as possible. If entities have technical difficulties with the UEI validation or SAM registration process, they should use the HELP feature on SAM.gov. SAM.gov will address service tickets in the order in which they are received and asks that entities not create multiple service tickets for the same request or technical issue. Additional entity validation resources can be found here: GSAFSD Tier 0 Knowledge Base - Validating your Entity.

Modifications All modifications to the FOA are HIGHLIGHTED in the body of the FOA.

Table of Contents

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Questions about this FOA? Email IRAAdvancedBiofuelsFOA@ee.doe.gov Problems with EERE eXCHANGE? Email EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov Include FOA name and number in subject line.

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Funding Opportunity Description Background and Context

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Awards made under this FOA will be funded, in whole, with funds appropriated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Public Law 117-169 (August 16, 2022). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text.]

Funding made available through IRA reflects the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history, enabling America to tackle the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, securing America’s position as a world leader in domestic clean energy manufacturing, and putting the United States on a pathway to achieving the Biden Administration’s climate goals, including a net-zero economy by 2050. IRA Section 60108(b) appropriated funds to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for new grants to industry and other related activities under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program to support investments in advanced biofuels.

EPA has provided funding to the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement the advanced biofuels investments under IRA Section 60108(b). Potential applicants are advised to read the FOA carefully. The EPA’s RFS program administers biofuel requirements for current commercial-scale activities, while BETO supports research in next-generation activities. To evaluate the lifecycle impact of a commercial-scale refinery, EPA’s RFS program defines a fuel pathway as a specific combination of (1) feedstock, (2) production process, and (3) fuel type. This FOA is intended to support EPA’s RFS program and is different in allowable feedstocks and allowable primary fuels, among other things, compared to other recent BETO FOAs. All full applications must use the Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data document to show the potential lifecycle greenhouse gas emission to demonstrate the application is supporting advanced biofuels (see Section IV.D.xix.).

Program Purpose

Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050[footnoteRef:3] to the benefit of all Americans. For over a decade, EPA’s RFS program has helped develop the market for advanced biofuels, including the current production of billions of gallons of biomass-based diesel and renewable natural gas. These fuels reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared to the petroleum fuels they replace. As shown in the RFS Program: Standards for 2023-2025 final rule,[footnoteRef:4] the RFS continues to expand by increasing renewable volume obligations and reducing the number of small refinery exemptions, while monitoring how renewable fuel production impacts the environment, national energy security, national infrastructure, the cost of fuels to consumers, and the impacts on job creation, agricultural commodity prices and supplies, rural economic development, and food prices.[footnoteRef:5] There is a need for more feedstocks and conversion technologies to enable more advanced biofuels with the lowest cost of production and the greatest reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. DOE is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities. This FOA will support the Biden Administration’s action items to produce 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year and reduce aviation emissions by 20% by 2030 towards unlocking the potential for a fully zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050.[footnoteRef:6] [3: Executive Order (EO) 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” January 27, 2021.] [4: https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/final-renewable-fuels-standards-rule-2023-2024-and-2025] [5: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-07-12/pdf/2023-13462.pdf] [6: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/S1-Signed-SAF-MOU-9-08-21_0.pdf]

In support of these Administration priorities, BETO focuses on developing technologies that convert domestic lignocellulosic biomass and renewable organic waste resources into affordable low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts that significantly reduce carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis as compared to equivalent petroleum-based products. These bioenergy technologies can enable a transition to a clean energy economy, create high-quality jobs, and support rural economies. The research and development (R&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection.

This FOA also supports high-impact technology R&D to accelerate the bioeconomy. BETO is focusing on applied RD&D to improve the performance and reduce the cost of biofuel production technologies and scale-up production systems in partnership with industry. By reducing cost and technical risk, BETO can help pave the way for industry to deploy commercial-scale integrated biorefineries and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hard-to-decarbonize sectors, such as the aviation industry. Additionally, this FOA will reduce risks in processing or co-processing biointermediates in legacy refinery infrastructure.

Technology Space and Strategic Goals BETO manages a diverse portfolio of technologies covering the full spectrum of bioenergy production, from the feedstock source to final products. Although BETO focuses on biofuel, it also pursues strategies to develop high-value bioproducts as byproducts that can lower the cost and accelerate the development of biofuel technologies.

Biofuels and bioproducts are produced via a variety of technology configurations that can be referred to as technology pathways. Each technology pathway includes a specific feedstock or feedstocks and conversion technology combination to produce a product slate of biofuels and/or bioproducts. BETO’s programs focus on overcoming key technology barriers that affect technology pathways and the ability to economically scale-up these pathways to industrially relevant volumes.

Illustrative biofuel pathway progress is assessed annually by BETO using technoeconomic analysis (TEA), which translates technology development into modeled gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) price improvements. These results, along with life cycle analysis (LCA) of energy and emissions and supply chain sustainability analyses, which estimate the environmental impact of improvements, are referred to by BETO as the state of technology. Figure 1 below illustrates the TEA impact of technology development progress representing a significant reduction in the modeled Minimum Fuel Selling Price (MFSP) for one example technology pathway.

Figure 1: Illustrative biofuel pathway progress toward a cost competitive fuel (woody feedstocks converted via catalytic pyrolysis and upgrading pathway).[footnoteRef:7] [7: Dutta, Abhijit, Calvin Mukarakate, Kristiina Iisa, Huamin Wang, Michael Talmadge, Daniel Santosa, Kylee Harris, Frederick Baddour, et al. 2021. Ex Situ Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels: 2020 State of Technology. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-5100-80291. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/80291.pdf.]

Similarly, Figure 2 shows sustainability factors that must be kept in mind and worked on simultaneously as cost reduction occurs in order to fully realize the effect of design changes to lower cost.

(a) (b)

(c) Figure 2: Supply chain for the catalytic fast pyrolysis design case for (a) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, (b) water consumption, and (c) NOx emissions.[footnoteRef:8] 2020 State of Technology (left bars) compared to petroleum gasoline (right, black bars). [8: Cai, Hao, Longwen Ou, Michael Wang, Ryan Davis, Abhijit Dutta, Kylee Harris, Matthew Wiatrowski, Eric Tan, et al. 2021. Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels via Indirect Liquefaction, Ex Situ Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis, Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Combined Algal Processing, and Biochemical Conversion: Update of the 2020 State-of-Technology Cases. Argonne, IL: Argonne National Laboratory. ANL/ESD-21/1 Rev. 1. https://publications.anl.gov/anlpubs/2021/09/171390.pdf.]

Significant RD&D is still required to de-risk these technologies for commercial adoption. The Topic Areas in this FOA directly seek to address the following R&D needs:

· Development of key process steps from the laboratory/bench-scale at start of project to the pilot/engineering-scale at end of project, to reduce technological uncertainties and enable integrated piloting and/or scale-up to demonstration that could occur after the completion of this work; and

· Development of key technology innovations for processing or co-processing biointermediates in legacy refinery infrastructure, tested and verified at industrially relevant scale, to reduce technological uncertainties and enable industry deployment.

All work under EERE funding agreements, such as those awarded as a result of this FOA, must be performed in the United States.

Teaming Partner List DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of project teams for this FOA. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations that may wish to participate on a project to express their interest to other applicants and explore potential partnerships.

The Teaming Partner List will be available on EERE eXCHANGE at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId786ac4d9-fac6-4124-9af4-7bb53519bab9 and will be regularly updated to reflect new teaming partners who provide their organization’s information.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: View the Teaming Partner List by visiting the EERE eXCHANGE homepage and clicking on “Teaming Partners” within the left-hand navigation pane. This page allows users to view published Teaming Partner Lists. To join the Teaming Partner List, submit a request within eXCHANGE. Select the appropriate Teaming Partner List from the drop-down menu, and fill in the following information: Investigator Name, Organization Name, Organization Type, Topic Area, Background and Capabilities, Website, Contact Address, Contact Email, and Contact Phone.

DISCLAIMER: By submitting a request to be included on the Teaming Partner List, the requesting organization consents to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating the Teaming Partner List, DOE is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. DOE will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any applicants or requesting organizations for the development of such information.

Topic Areas

Table 1: Topic Area Breakdown

1. Overview

To meet the demand for advanced biofuels, including SAF, many different feedstocks must be utilized, which will require a portfolio of efficient conversion technologies. Significant progress has been made on a number of technologies to produce SAF and other biofuels, through both government and private sector support, and some technologies at the laboratory-scale are now ready for scaling-up to support their ultimate commercialization. BETO recognizes that availability of financing for first-of-a-kind process systems at the pilot-scale can be a barrier to commercializing advanced biofuels. BETO is looking for bioenergy technology developers that have completed work at the laboratory-scale and are ready to advance to the pilot-scale. This may mean designing and building a pilot-scale unit, using real feedstocks, operating a reactor for longer times than before, finding the optimal operating conditions, and/or incorporating mass/heat recycling. This FOA does not seek a fully integrated pilot-scale unit, but rather a critical process step or steps. The expectation is that a successful project at the end of this FOA would then be ready to proceed to building and operating an integrated pilot-scale facility, or scaling up to a demonstration-scale facility. Table 1 above lists the two Topic Areas. Topic Area 1 seeks projects of a wide variety of allowable feedstocks (see Section I.B.ii.). Topic Area 2 specifically seeks the utilization of biointermediates (see Section I.B.iii.).

Based on lessons learned from previous projects, this FOA requires projects to demonstrate that they have successfully met appropriate targets, addressed technical risks, and have collected sufficient data at prior stages of development and are positioned to scale their technology to the next stage. Therefore, applications should clearly state the previous data they have developed (see Section IV.D.ii.). If awarded, the first budget period of a project consists of verification, where the awardee may be required to repeat its experiments at the prior scale (see Section I.C.). This process verifies the awardee’s work and helps set the baseline against which to measure progress during the project.

Both Topic Areas under this FOA will fund projects currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 4 (see Appendix E). BETO will identify, evaluate, and select applications proposing the scale-up of key process steps from laboratory scale unit operations to industrially relevant piece(s) of equipment at the pilot scale (TRL 5). The meaning of industrially relevant can vary based on the technology. Indicators that equipment is industrially relevant would be that:

· The equipment is capable of receiving feedstock of the physical and chemical variability as would be seen in the commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment is capable of receiving feedstock continuously if that would be the vision of a commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment can continuously evacuate any solid, liquid, and gaseous products if that would be the vision of a commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment can operate at durations long enough to test durability of any catalyst/microorganism/solvent involved;

· The equipment is manufactured of materials that would be used in the commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment can run at the optimal conditions where throughput of unit biomass per unit time, conversion efficiency, and other size-independent metrics are optimized and similar to the values needed for the commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment is using catalysts, as applicable, manufactured in methods that would be done for the commercial-scale unit;

· The equipment is designed close enough to the vision of a demonstration- or commercial-scale such that if a sufficient quantity of operational testing is conducted using the equipment, then a final investment decision could be made on investing on the next higher scale of technology development; and/or

· Any internal mass/heat transfer needed is performed in a way that would be used in the commercial-scale unit.

The steps 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.

To support the RFS, non-fuel bioproducts are not allowable as the primary product for an applicant’s proposed technology under either Topic Area 1 or 2. Bioproducts are allowable as coproducts if they are essential for the overall economics of biofuel production. However, of all the carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, at least 50% of the total carbon must be contained within the biofuel(s). In addition, carbon found in waste streams, or streams consumed as part of the production process, is not included in determining whether 50% of the total carbon is contained within the biofuel(s). For instance, carbon dioxide (CO2) from a fermentation, light gases produced from biomass feedstock used for process heat, or char from a catalytic fast pyrolysis process would be considered traditional waste streams and thus not be included in the total carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, even though there are technologies that can utilize these streams to further reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the overall economics of a process. This calculation will be different among technologies and the applicant is responsible for fully explaining and establishing the applicability of its process streams under this requirement.

BETO anticipates that $9,400,000 in federal funding will be available for awards collectively made under both Topic Areas 1 and 2. Selections may be made under one Topic Area, a combination of the two Topic Areas, or no selections under either Topic Area, depending on the applicant pool and the outcome of the evaluation process.

Important Note: Because of the IRA funding source and Section 60108(b) authorization language for advanced biofuels under the RFS program, allowable feedstocks and allowable primary products under this FOA are different than other recent BETO FOAs. Applicants must, therefore, pay particular attention to and follow all requirements and definitions set forth in this FOA.

In addition, President Biden, in Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, established the Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Under this FOA, 20% of an applicant’s evaluation score (Criterion 4) will be based on the applicant’s R&D Community Benefits Plan, which must cover (1) job quality and workforce continuity, (2) diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, and (3) Justice40 initiative. This FOA seeks projects that are responsive to all three community benefits criteria above. Meaningful actions could include, but are not limited to, activities such as reviewing state environmental justice laws that would impact a biorefinery and actively adjusting project plans accordingly; and/or creating a two-way communication with the local community where a recipient first understands potential adverse project impacts, conducts monitoring of the impacts, then reports findings to the community at the end of the project. Projects must have one milestone related to the R&D Community Benefits Plan per budget period. More requirements and suggestions regarding the R&D Community Benefits Plan requirements are found in Sections I.E., V.A.ii., and Appendix G.

All work for projects selected under this FOA must be performed in the United States. See Section IV.J.iii. and Appendix C.

1. Topic Area 1: Pre-pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefinery Technologies

Many technologies developed at the laboratory/bench scale, both externally and within the other BETO programs, require further development prior to full system scaling. Topic Area 1 will provide funding for recipients to scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the laboratory scale (TRL 3 or 4) and into industrially relevant piece(s) of equipment (TRL 5). The proposed unit operation(s) within an application are not required to comprise a fully integrated pilot-scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support future integration of the entire process at pilot- or demonstration-scale. Applicants to Topic Area 1 will be required to demonstrate proof of technology success at the laboratory scale in Budget Period 1 and provide a market justification for further system scaling. Lowering scale-up risk for these processes will contribute to the BETO goal of supporting at least four demonstration-scale integrated biorefineries by 2030. These processes also respond to the requirement of IRA Section 60108(b) to support investments in advanced biofuels.

The following metrics will be required for award:

Table 2: Topic Area 1 – Pre-pilot Requirements

GHG Emissions[footnoteRef:10],[footnoteRef:11],[footnoteRef:12] [10: Applicants may use any standardized approach to calculating life cycle GHG emissions e.g. Argonne National Laboratory GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies) model9 or provide schemes developed through the CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) methodology10 for calculating life cycle emissions] [11: https://greet.es.anl.gov/] [12: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/CORSIA-Eligible-Fuels.aspx]

Maximum 46 g CO2e/MJ combusted, lower heating value. A Program Policy Factor is included for the Selection Official’s consideration under this FOA, which may permit technologies proposing maximum GHG emission of 27 g CO2e/MJ combusted, lower heating value, to be prioritized (see Section V.C.i.). See Section IV.D.xix. for instructions on the Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data document.

8 MMBTU/day of biogas equivalent; or 35 gallons/day of final fuel equivalent for processes that utilize CO2 as a feedstock

Topic Area 1 Specific Requirements

The following requirements must be addressed in the Full Application and the strength of the applicant’s discussion will be evaluated by the reviewers for engineering and scientific merit (see Technical Evaluation Criteria in Section V.A.ii.):

· Projects must meet or exceed all minimum metrics listed above in Table 2: Topic Area 1 – Pre-pilot Requirements.

· Applications must contain techno-economic and life cycle analyses (TEA and LCA) that relate the key technical parameters of the proposed technology described in the proposal application to achieving cost competitive MFSP and GHG reduction targets. Previously achieved values, scales, and durations should be delineated from the values necessary to meet the targeted MFSP to assure the level of technology advancement needed is clear.

· Projects selected for negotiation of award will be subject to verification immediately after award approval, within Budget Period 1.

· A Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data are required as part of the application. See Section IV.D.xix.

· Biofuels must demonstrate a reasonable chance of receiving ASTM International (ASTM) or other regulatory approvals, as evidenced by substantial discussion in the narrative and inclusion of necessary tasks in the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO).

· Applications cannot include greater than 10% of the total project budget for earlier stage research and development (R&D) (<TRL 4), including expenses for equipment, salaries, and supplies.

Topic Area 1 Special Deliverables In addition to the deliverables required in the Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist, the following deliverables are required for awards made under Topic Area 1:

· Attendance and participation at the BETO Biennial Peer Review is required so that external subject matter experts can review project accomplishments and provide feedback to ensure optimal use of BETO funds.

Topic Area 1 Applications Specifically Not of Interest

· Those identified in Section I.D. of the FOA.

1. Topic Area 2: Biointermediate Processing Toolbox

The Renewable Fuel Standard program managed by the U.S. EPA includes an approved pathway for cellulosic (D-code 3) RINs (Renewable Identification Numbers) generated from renewable gasoline, renewable gasoline blendstock, co-processed cellulosic diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil from a variety of feedstocks[footnoteRef:13] via a variety of technologies,[footnoteRef:14] including processing or co-processing liquid biocrudes produced from woody biomass and other feedstocks. D-code 3 RINs can also be used to demonstrate compliance as advanced biofuels (nested D-code 5 RINs). As documented in BETO’s 2023 Multi-Year Program Plan,[footnoteRef:15] co-processing within legacy petroleum refinery infrastructure represents a near-term opportunity to incorporate large volumes of biomass to partially decarbonize fuels and chemicals. As of 2023, there are no U.S. refineries commercially practicing co-processing of biocrude, despite there being an allowable pathway for generating D-code 3 RINs (with significant value)[footnoteRef:16] in the EPA RFS. Meanwhile, industry is rapidly constructing and/or retrofitting refineries that process and/or co-process vegetable oils and biogenic fats/oils/greases to hydrocarbon fuels including renewable diesel and SAF. The demand for vegetable oils and biogenic fats/oils/greases is likely to exceed supply since these feedstocks are also used for biodiesel and other markets. Other biomass, such as wood, and waste feedstocks are used for the biopower market. For transportation fuels, the concept of processing a biointermediate to a fuel using refinery infrastructure is a strategy to reduce capital costs and accelerate the timeline to commercialization. Using readily available feedstocks and legacy refinery infrastructure could help accelerate the near-term SAF Grand Challenge goal of 3 billion gallons SAF by 2030. This FOA seeks applications to demonstrate a pilot run of co-processing or processing a biointermediate such as biocrude to an advanced biofuel in particular sustainable aviation fuel. [13: Crop residue, slash, pre-commercial thinnings, tree residue, and separated yard waste; biogenic components of separated municipal solid waste; cellulosic components of separated food waste; and cellulosic components of annual cover crops. See Row M of https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/approved-pathways-renewable-fuel] [14: Catalytic pyrolysis and upgrading; gasification and upgrading; thermocatalytic hydrodeoxygenation and upgrading; direct biological conversion; biological conversion and upgrading utilizing natural gas, biogas, and/or biomass as the only process energy sources providing that process used converts cellulosic biomass to fuel; any process utilizing biogas and/or biomass as the only process energy sources which converts cellulosic biomass to fuel. See Row M of https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/approved-pathways-renewable-fuel] [15: https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/articles/2023-multi-year-program-plan] [16: https://www.epa.gov/fuels-registration-reporting-and-compliance-help/rin-trades-and-price-information]

BETO has supported enabling work at DOE national laboratories on co-processing of biocrudes[footnoteRef:17] (such as liquids from fast pyrolysis, catalytic fast pyrolysis, or hydrothermal liquefaction) with petroleum feeds and recently provided a public webinar series on the work.[footnoteRef:18] If successfully adopted, co-processing technologies can be a near-term solution to accelerate the advanced biofuel production supply chains of wood, waste, and other currently available feedstocks. [17: See Appendix H – Glossary for the definition of biocrude for this FOA.] [18: https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/articles/two-day-webinar-series-biocarbon-incorporation-transportation-fuels-co]

Generally, challenges preventing adoption of co-processing biocrudes include:

· insufficient supply of biocrudes for co-processing pilot/demonstration tests;

· thermal-oxidative stability of biocrudes;

· materials compatibility of biocrudes with refinery infrastructure materials of construction;

· immiscibility of biocrudes and petroleum using conventional nozzle injections at the reactor throat;

· catalytic deactivation in the co-processing reactor due to oxygenates or inorganics in the biocrude stream;

· low yields of fuels due to poor performance of conventional catalysts that must simultaneously convert petroleum and biomass feedstocks;

· low yields of biogenic carbon in liquid fuels due to poor catalyst/reactor performance;

· difficulty in guaranteeing biogenic carbon incorporation in the liquid fuels due to costs, time, or accuracy levels of current biogenic carbon measurement methods.

Topic Area 2 seeks solutions for helping solve the most difficult remaining technical challenges preventing co-processing or processing of biocrude, to produce SAF and other advanced biofuels. Applicants to Topic Area 2 will be required, by end of project, to demonstrate proof of technology success at an industrially relevant scale of at least TRL 5 and provide a market justification for further system scaling. For purposes of Topic Area 2, industrially relevant means processing or co-processing real biocrude at long operation times close to the time needed for a refinery to consider making an investment decision at the end of this project. The actual times needed for a refinery to make a final investment decision may, or may not, be larger than the stretch goals in Table 3, but the available funds for this FOA limit the required times and stretch targets in Table 3. Stretch targets are included because an application may find it reasonable to pursue such targets given the state-of-technology at the start of application, the cost to perform experiments, and the availability of funds for the project. Lowering scale-up risk for these processes will contribute to the investments in advanced biofuels required by IRA Section 60108(b).

Engineering solutions for the key process steps can include modified catalysts for co-processing in refinery units (such as hydrotreating, fluidized catalytic cracking, and hydrocracking), pretreatment unit operations for cleaning or stabilizing biocrudes, injector systems for co-feeding biocrude with petroleum or biogenic fats/oils/greases or vegetables oils, methods that accurately count biogenic carbon content in co-processed fuels with lower cost and faster response time than current options, and testing of modified refinery infrastructure if necessary for materials compatibility with biocrude. Projects are encouraged to utilize predictive modeling and high-performance computing to accelerate and optimize their unit operation(s) design(s). The following metrics will be required for award:

Table 3: Topic Area 2 – Biointermediate Processing Toolbox Requirements

GHG Reductions[footnoteRef:19],[footnoteRef:20],[footnoteRef:21] [19: Applicants may use any standardized approach to calculating life cycle GHG emissions e.g. Argonne National Laboratory GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies) model9 or provide schemes developed through the CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) methodology10 for calculating life cycle emissions] [20: https://greet.es.anl.gov/] [21: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/CORSIA-Eligible-Fuels.aspx]

Maximum 46 g CO2e/MJ combusted, lower heating value. A Program Policy Factor is included for the Selection Official’s consideration under this FOA, which may permit technologies proposing maximum GHG emission of 27 g CO2e/MJ combusted, lower heating value, to be prioritized (see Section V.C.i.). See Section IV.D.xix. for instructions on the Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data document.

Anticipated Approaches for Topic Area 2 Include, but are Not Limited To

· Modified catalysts for co-processing in refinery units (such as hydrotreating, fluidized catalytic cracking, and hydrocracking);

· Pretreatment unit operations for cleaning or stabilizing biocrudes;

· Injector systems for co-feeding biocrude with petroleum, fats/oils/greases or vegetable oils, or other feeds;

· Methods that accurately count biogenic carbon content in co-processed fuels with lower cost and faster response time than current options;

· Testing of modified refinery infrastructure if necessary for materials compatibility;

· Development and validation of biogenic carbon measurement methods are of interest, in particular, methods that may be able to overcome the barriers of current methods. Current approved methods are either cost-prohibitive to use at the refinery, or provide data at precision levels too low to be of value for co-processing around 10% since the fuel must have 10% biogenic carbon incorporation to have RIN value. Also of interest would be carbon tracking methods that identify different feedstocks, for example, differentiating between soybean oil and used cooking oil;

· Applications using triglyceride/lipid feedstocks such as vegetable oils and biogenic fats/oils/greases are allowable and of interest for developing biogenic carbon tracking and measurement methods since there are no proven, widely-accepted methods that offer both high precision and relatively low cost with a relatively fast response. Triglyceride/lipid feedstocks are not biointermediates so other feedstocks would still be needed in the application. Additionally, applications using biointermediates that are byproducts from the triglyceride-based industry, such as free fatty acid feedstock, are of interest since they have not been commercially proven;

· Applicants that work closely with equipment/technology manufacturers, catalyst manufacturers and/or downstream and upstream process owners to ensure the feedstocks, processes, equipment, and catalyst employed in the proposed project are available and that assumptions within the application are reasonable; and

· Development of predictive models and high-performance computing as tools to accelerate scale-up.

Topic Area 2 Specific Requirements

The following requirements must be addressed in the application and the strength of the applicant’s discussion will be evaluated by the independent technical review panel for engineering and scientific merit (see evaluation criteria in Section V.A.ii.):

· Projects must meet or exceed all minimum metrics listed above in Table 3: Topic Area 2 – Biointermediate Processing Toolbox Requirements.

· Applications must contain techno-economic and life cycle analyses (TEA and LCA) that relate the key technical parameters of the proposed technology described in the proposal application to achieving cost competitive MFSP and GHG reduction targets. Previously achieved values, scales, and durations should be delineated from the values necessary to meet the targeted MFSP so that the level of technology advancement needed is clear. The boundaries of the analysis in the TEA and LCA should start from the feedstock.

· A Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data template are required as part of the application. See Section IV.D.xix. The boundaries of the analysis in the Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data should start from the feedstock.

· The application must include a design basis discussion showing the vision for the commercial unit, including identification of feedstock, methods for feedstock pre-processing, and description of commercial-scale reactors for conversion of biomass feedstock to biointermediate.