This FOA will fund high-impact, applied research and development and prototype or pilot-scale technology validation and demonstration projects to advance the transformational technologies and innovations necessary to reduce energy use and GHG emissions in the industrial sector. This FOA advances the strategies identified in the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and will focus on cross-sector approaches for industrial decarbonization (thermal processing, exploratory cross-sector topics, and low carbon fuels utilization) along with high GHG-emitting subsectors (chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverage, cement and concrete, and forest products). The focus will be energy-related emissions as well as non-energy-related process emissions (e.g., CO2 from the calcination process in cement production). Cross-sector approaches include RD&D on components and equipment systems, technologies with broad applications across the industrial sector, and the integration of technology in industry-specific conditions.
Topic Areas
The topics in this FOA align with DOE’s shared strategic framework for development of industrial decarbonization technologies: (1) energy efficiency (advanced by all topics); (2) industrial electrification (Topics 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8); (3) low-carbon fuels, feedstocks, and energy sources (Topics 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8); (4) carbon capture, utilization, and storage (Topics 4 and 7); and (5) manufacturing technology innovation (Topic 3).
- Topic Area 1: Decarbonizing Industrial Heat
- Process heating, or thermal processing, is essential to manufacture a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, including those made from metal, plastic, rubber, carbon fiber, concrete, glass, ceramics, and biomass. Thermal energy is needed to transform materials through processes such as drying, curing, melting, forming, sintering, calcining, and smelting.
- Topic Area 2: Low-Carbon Fuels Utilization R&D
- Topic 2 will focus on research, development, validation, and demonstration needed to accelerate the commercial readiness of hydrogen-fueled process heating technology and low-carbon-input, flexible CHP.
- Topic Area 3: Exploratory Cross-Sector R&D
- Emerging efficiency and decarbonization concepts in the industrial sector can provide enhanced facility value and significantly increase efficiency. This topic encompasses two subtopics: (a) Enabling Flexible Industrial Energy Use and (b) Enhanced Thermal Conductivity Materials.
- Topic Area 4: Decarbonizing Chemicals
- Topic 4 will focus on the development, validation, and demonstration needed to accelerate the commercial readiness of emerging low-carbon unit operations to decarbonize the full supply chain of the chemicals sector. Technologies of interest include the potential to significantly reduce (>85%) carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency for high-volume chemical manufacturing, as are technologies that consider sustainable chemistry practices, as defined in Topic 4 Background and Opportunity.
- Topic Area 5: Decarbonizing Iron and Steel
- Applicants under this topic should develop and achieve advances in technologies leading to commercial readiness of low-carbon or net-zero-carbon process technologies for the iron and steel industry. During the award performance period, an assessment of carbon emissions, energy intensity, and cost must be validated via LCA and TEA. Applications submitted under this topic must address at least one of the AOIs stated below. All AOIs for Topic 5 seek both Tier 1 and Tier 2 applications.
- Topic Area 6: Decarbonizing Food and Beverage Manufacturing
- Within this topic, DOE seeks the development and demonstration of high-impact decarbonization solutions for a wide variety of food and beverage manufacturing operations. Possible solutions include, but are not limited to, innovative heating, cooling, drying, and refrigeration processes across a full spectrum of applications, ranging from industrial baking and ingredients manufacturing to product fermentation and livestock processing and rendering. The proposed technical solutions can be demonstrated at pilot scale or first-of-a-kind demonstration in relevant environments and operating conditions.
- Topic Area 7: Decarbonizing Cement and Concrete
- Applicants under this topic should develop and demonstrate advances to accelerate the commercial readiness of emerging low-carbon or net-zero-carbon technologies for the cement and concrete industry, to provide energy savings, carbon emissions reduction, and other benefits such as reduced complexity and improved process efficiency/optimization in the cement/concrete production sector.
- Topic Area 8: Decarbonizing Forest Products
- Applicants under this topic should develop and demonstrate new advances in processes and associated equipment to accelerate the commercial readiness of emerging low-carbon or net-zero-carbon process technologies for the energy-intensive paper and forest products manufacturing applications.
Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: [Last name]_DE-FOA00002997_2023) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:
1. Cover page (1 page, pdf):
- Descriptive title of proposed activity
- Specific Topic Area being addressed
- PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
- Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
- Names of other key personnel
- Participating institution(s)
- Number and title of this funding opportunity
2. Project Description (no more than four pages, pdf) References must be included as footnotes or endnotes in a font size of 10 or larger. Footnotes, endnotes and figures must be within the four page limit. The project description should match the Technology Description described in section IV.C of the FOA.
Applicants are required to describe succinctly:
- The proposed technology, including its basic operating principles and how it is unique and innovative;
- The scale of the proposed work, including, as appropriate, mass flow, energy flow, heat flux, reactor volume, and other quantitative measures;
- The proposed technology’s target level of performance (applicants should provide technical data or other support to show how the proposed target could be met);
- The current state-of-the-art in the relevant field and application, including key shortcomings, limitations, and challenges;
- How the proposed technology will overcome the shortcomings, limitations, and challenges in the relevant field and application;
- The potential impact that the proposed project would have on the relevant field and application;
- The key technical risks/issues associated with the proposed technology development plan; and
- The impact that EERE funding would have on the proposed project.
4. 2-page CV's of Investigators
Formatting Guidelines:
Font/size: Calibri (12 pt.)
Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)
Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.