The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator”.
BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan , to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily align well with BETO’s current multi-year program plan yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful technologies and solutions that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.
The Bioenergy Technologies Incubator FOA will be ‘open’ to any and all impactful proposals which significantly advance the mission of the BETO. It is expected that proposals will be at early Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) ranging from 2 (Technology concept and/or application formulated) to 4 (Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment). Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates in future program roadmaps.
EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The total amount of funding for the FOA is $10 million. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 12-24 months, with an award size from $0.5 million to $2.0 million, with 20% cost-share.
The Exchange system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for applicants.
Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline:
In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (exchange@hq.doe.gov). The Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (exchange@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.
Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:
In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (exchange@hq.doe.gov). The Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (exchange@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving the issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant's concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through Exchange within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.
The Bioenergy
Technologies Incubator FOA Informational Webinar was held Monday, March 3,
2014 at 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST. Standard application questions regarding the
EERE Office and FOA procedures were discussed.
Here is the link to the Webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/689477432