NOI to Issue Notice of Funding Opportunity DE-FOA-0003495 titled Accelerating CO2 Conversion Technology Development and Deployment – Biological, Catalytic, and Mineralization Pathways.
Funding Agency:
- Department of Energy
Carbon conversion is an essential element in the strategy to combat climate change. It enables carbon recycling by using anthropogenic carbon, captured from the atmosphere or sourced from utility and industrial point sources. Carbon conversion products will play a critical role in the transition to a net-zero economy by providing solutions for hard-to-abate industries or durably storing carbon in long-lived products like building materials. The Carbon Conversion Program supports various conversion technologies within biological, catalytic, and mineralization pathways. These technologies will benefit manufacturers, technology providers, and the general public by advancing commercial viability of and consumer access to more environmentally sustainable products.
Significant advancements have been made in carbon conversion technologies through research and development supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. However, there are still critical knowledge gaps and technical barriers to be addressed. Further research and development is needed to support scaling challenges, including issues affecting the economics of commercial projects, the durability of novel unit operations at scale, and barriers to adoption of these products by consumers.
The anticipated technical objective of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to competitively solicit cost-shared research and development (R&D) proposals to advance the piloting of carbon conversion technologies of with high technology readiness level (TRL > 5) capable of achieving significant carbon mitigation via biological, catalytic, or mineralization pathways. DOE also seeks to support testing of product performance and characterization needed for market or consumer adoption. This may include lifecycle analysis (LCA) development for novel carbon conversion technologies and LCA development for pilot facilities using those technologies. If released, this NOFO is anticipated to focus on the following four Areas of Interest (AOI):
Biological: Two sub areas fall under this AOI; (1A) Algal routes and (1B) Non-photosynthetic routes.
For AOI 1A (Algae), research should focus on technologies at a TRL 5 or higher. Research should support pilot tests of algae based systems to operate at field conditions. The proposed research should address integration with other carbon capture and carbon removal technologies/pilots using actual flue gas, pond crashes and contamination, and downstream algae separation and/or fractionation with the intent for refining algal biomass. Efforts that target engineering high pH and temperature tolerant algae strains, research addressing the use of wastewater to provide nutrients, and advancements to lower costs will be of interest.
For AOI 1B (Non-photosynthetic), research should focus on technologies at TRL 5 or higher. Research should support pilot tests of optimized autotrophic microbial or enzymatic systems to operate at field conditions. The proposed research should address the integration/use of clean hydrogen as the source of reducing power for Carbon conversion. Power-to-gas approaches that leverage hydrogen to make synthetic natural gas as well as approaches that synthesize a wide range of products, including protein or animal feed, and chemicals or fuels will be of interest.
Catalytic: Two sub areas, (2A) Thermochemical Carbon Conversion Integrated Pilot Processes and (2B) Electrocatalytic Carbon Conversion Integrated Pilot Processes
For AOI 2A, research should focus on technologies at TRL 5 or higher. Research should support thermochemical routes that use innovative methods to generate products from carbon at a lower carbon intensity and/or efficiency than established pathways. Proposed research that addresses the performance of catalysts/reactor (at pilot scale) with respect to downstream operation, separation processes and overall plant efficiency, electrical energy efficiency, long-term stability and long-term operation will be of interest.
For AOI 2B, research should focus on technologies at TRL 5 or higher. Research should support electrochemical conversion for carbon reduction to (C1 or C2) products on complete stacks with integrated Balance of Plant (BOP). Research should address materials durability, long term performance, and selectivity while conducting medium-term tests. Achieving significant run times (>2,000 hours) under real world conditions including on/off cycling, real-world feedstocks, and integration into existing processes will be of interest.
Mineralization: Three sub areas, (3A) Synthetic Aggregates Production; (3B) Non-Traditional Concrete and Masonry Binders, e.g., Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), development; and (3C) Point Source and Process Integration
N/A
Jan 17, 2025 This is a Notice of Intent to issue Notice of Funding Opportunity DE-FOA-0003495. Applications will not be accepted for the Notice of Intent.
If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:
BETHANY SWAUGER 412-386-4737
bethany.swauger@netl.doe.gov