DE-FOA-0002687: Request for Information on Industrial Decarbonization Priorities | DE FOA 0002687

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002687

DE-FOA-0002687, titled "Request for Information on Industrial Decarbonization Priorities," is a Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) Request for Information (RFI) issued through DOE's Golden Field Office under EERE (the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy). The core goal is to gather practical, on-the-ground input that helps DOE understand what the U.S. industrial sector sees as the biggest needs, barriers, and most promising pathways for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Rather than announcing a pot of funding, this notice is meant to inform future federal strategy, potential future programs, and possible future funding topics by collecting feedback from a wide range of stakeholders.

The RFI focuses on industrial decarbonization in a broad sense, meaning technologies and approaches that can reduce or eliminate emissions from U.S. manufacturing and heavy industry. DOE is looking for information about the full innovation pipeline: research and development (R and D), demonstration, and deployment. That includes both emerging technologies that are not yet widely used and solutions that might already exist but face real-world adoption challenges such as cost, integration risk, reliability concerns, lack of standards, or limited access to infrastructure. The emphasis is on technical challenges and practical considerations that affect whether emissions-reduction technologies can actually be deployed at industrial scale.

DOE specifically calls out interest in several high-emitting and hard-to-decarbonize sectors: chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverages, and cement. These sectors often involve high-temperature heat, complex process emissions (not just fuel combustion), and long-lived capital equipment that is expensive to replace, all of which can slow decarbonization. At the same time, DOE makes clear it is not limiting the conversation to only those industries. The RFI also welcomes input on other manufacturing industries and on crosscutting technology areas that could drive substantial emissions reductions across multiple sectors. Crosscutting areas typically include things like industrial electrification, high-temperature heat solutions, energy efficiency improvements, advanced process controls and digitalization, low-carbon fuels, carbon capture or utilization options, novel materials, and other system-level approaches that cut emissions across many types of facilities.

From an eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is listed as unrestricted, meaning feedback could come from industry, universities, national labs, state and local government entities, nonprofits, trade associations, and other stakeholders. The notice is categorized in federal systems as discretionary and under the energy activity category (CFDA 81.086), but it is important to interpret that categorization correctly: it does not mean DOE is offering grants through this action. This RFI is purely an information-gathering exercise. Consistent with that, the listing shows expected awards of zero, and it explicitly states DOE is not accepting applications. The dates included in the listing indicate it was created on January 27, 2022, with an original response closing date of February 28, 2022.

In practical terms, this RFI is best understood as DOE asking the industrial community: what decarbonization solutions look most viable, what is missing in today’s technology and infrastructure, what kinds of demonstrations would de-risk adoption, and what would make deployment easier or faster. Responses to RFIs like this often shape future DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements by helping the agency prioritize sectors, define technical targets, choose demonstration scales, identify the most meaningful performance metrics, and design programs that address the barriers industry actually faces.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DE-FOA-0002687: Request for Information on Industrial Decarbonization Priorities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 27, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 28, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002687

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