The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has released a new request for information (RFI) on several priority areas relating to activities in the Conversion Research and Development (R&D) program, including:

  • Improved Robustness of Microbial Cells (Category 1)
  • Improved Robustness of Catalytic Processes (Category 2)
  • State of Technology (SOT) Analyses in the BETO Research Portfolio (Category 3)

The RFI, titled “Biomass Conversion Research, Development, and Analysis Programs,” seeks input from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to Microbial Cell and Catalyst Robustness, and State-of Technology Analyses.

In the Conversion R&D Program, process robustness has been identified as a key challenge that must be addressed prior to scale-up. This includes the development of more robust organisms and catalytic processes for the conversion of sustainable feedstocks and intermediates into biofuels and bioproducts. The program is interested in feedback on barriers, capabilities, tools, and other general information needed to prioritize future research and development programs in the areas of organism (Category 1) and catalyst development (Category 2).

The Conversion R&D Program funds techno-economic and life-cycle analysis to track progress of particular process “pathways” and unit operations. The program is interested in feedback on which analyses are most useful to the broader bioenergy research and industrial community (Category 3).

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FY22ConversionRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET on March 11, 2022. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. View the full RFI on EERE Exchange or Grants.gov.