Expected Deadline Change for Replies to Reviewer Comments Period:
DOE EERE expects to make reviewer comments available in Exchange on 12/14/2015 at 8:00 AM ET. Because reviewer comments are being provided one day earlier than anticipated, replies are due on 12/16/2015 by 5:00 PM ET (which is one day earlier than the expected submission deadline noted on the cover page of Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001320). Replies to reviewer comments must follow the content and length requirements set forth in the FOA, Section IV.F (page 31). DOE will not review or consider ineligible Replies to Reviewer Comments.
The purpose of Modification 000002 is to delete Section III.E.2.v Limit on FFRDC Effort:
“The FFRDC effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 50 % of the total estimated cost of the project, including the applicant’s and the FFRDC’s portions of the effort.”The purposes of Modification 000001 are to make the following changes:
Additional clarification of areas of non-interest was added in the highlighted sections on pages 4-5 of the FOA to include the following:
The following types of applications will be deemed nonresponsive and will not be reviewed or considered (See Section III.D of the FOA):
• Applications that propose exploratory, basic science research (earlier than TRL 2).
• Applications that are at the demonstration and deployment phase (later than TRL 5).
• Applications that use food or feed carbohydrates, lipids, or proteins (e.g. maize or wheat dextrose, beet sucrose, sugar care or grain sorghum syrup, soybean oil or meal), and/or derivatives (e.g. amino acids from maize dextrose, glycerol from the transesterification of soybean oil).
For Topic 1 (Algae Feedstocks R&D), the additional areas of non-interest were added:
• Applications that propose to develop technology that relies on purely heterotrophic algae cultivation.
• Applications that propose mixotrophic algae cultivation strategies that utilize food-based sugars (i.e., derived from food-based crops including but not limited to corn, beets, sorghum, and sugar cane).
• Applications that propose to develop technology for the artificial lighting-based cultivation of algae for energy products (other than as an enabling tool for high-throughput laboratory-based screening).
• Applications that propose to work on biomass other than algae biomass (e.g. lignocellulosic biomass, non-algae micro-organisms, fungi, etc.).
The overall strategic goal of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to develop commercially viable bioenergy and bioproducts to enable sustainable, nationwide production of biofuels that are compatible with today’s transportation infrastructure, can reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions relative to petroleum-derived fuels, and can displace a share of petroleum-derived fuels to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and encourage the creation of a new domestic bioenergy industry.
BETO has targeted a performance goal of validating, at pilot scale, at least one technology pathway for hydrocarbon biofuel at a mature modeled cost of $3/GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) with GHG emissions reduction of 50% or more compared to petroleum-derived fuel by 2017, and validating two additional pathways by 2022.
These high level strategic and performance goals are expanded in further detail in BETO’s multi-year program plan (MYPP). BETO most recently updated its MYPP in March 2015 . The MYPP identifies many technical barriers that must be overcome through research, development and deployment in order for BETO to meet these overall strategic and performance goals. BETO has issued several Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to address the technical barriers delineated in the MYPP, and has done so in a way to focus its resources in a limited number of pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact and for the highest probability of success. BETO has communicated its project portfolio in public via the 2013 Peer Review and 2015 Peer Review.
However, BETO recognizes that there may be very novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs yet still meet BETO’s goals and mission. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas 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.
BETO is issuing this Incubator 2 FOA to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not currently represented in a significant way in the BETO’s MYPP and current project portfolio.
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. Frequently asked questions for this FOA and the EERE Application process can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/FAQ.aspx.
The eXCHANGE system is 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 all 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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all 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 contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.
The Innovative Technologies for Bioenergy Technologies Incubator 2 FOA Informational Webinar will be held Wednesday, September 2, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ET. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. Please register for the webinar at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8577701794294175233
For a recorded version of the webinar session held Wednesday, September 2, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp9WC4OYjF0