Information-DOE -
Notice of Intent to Issue Fiscal Year 15 Biomass Research and Development
Initiative; October 23, 2014
Agency
Department
of Energy
Description
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends
to issue, on behalf of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
and DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Request for Applications
(RFA) entitled ?Fiscal Year 15 Biomass Research and Development Initiative
(BRDI). The RFA will address USDA and DOE programmatic objectives,
administrative roles, and areas of interest in implementing Biomass Research
and Development Initiative (BRDI) grants. Section 9001(a) of
the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-246)
re-authorized the BRDI competitive grants program by amending section 9008 of
the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA), as amended, (Pub. L. 107-171) (7 U.S.C. 8108). For fiscal year (FY) 2015, BRDI
will require that funded projects address only one (1) of the following three
(3) legislatively mandated technical areas: 1. Feedstocks
development: The intent of this Topic Area is to address research, development,
and demonstration (RD&D) activities regarding feedstocks
and feedstock logistics (including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing,
and storage) relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels
and biobased products. The BRDI program is designed
to support near-term commercial systems. Projects should emphasize development
and optimization of existing feedstocks that will be
available for testing and demonstration during the life of the project.
Proposals that include breeding or genetic improvement of feedstocks
should reconcile this work with the Program’s emphasis on near-term impacts. 2.
Biofuels and biobased products development: The
intent of this Topic Area is to address RD&D activities to support (i)
development of diverse cost-effective technologies for the use of cellulosic
biomass in the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased
products; and, (ii) product diversification through technologies relevant to
the production of a range of biobased products
(including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power) that potentially
can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery.
3. Biofuels development analysis: The intent of this Topic Area is to apply
systems evaluation methods that can be used to optimize system performance and
market potential and to quantify the project’s impact on sustainability;
therefore, successful applications will consider the lifecycle
(cradle-to-grave) impacts including environmental, social, and economic
implications that are attributable to the project. Successful projects should
include these sustainability data in engineering process models and be used
over the life of the project to improve the system and quantify sustainability
impacts. This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of NIFA's
and EERE's intention to issue a RFA in the near term. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE
ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this
Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the RFA should begin developing
partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the
issuance of this RFA. It is anticipated that the RFA will be posted to
Grants.gov in November 2014.
Announcement
Number: DE-FOA-0001217
Closing
Date: Applications are not being solicited for the Notice
of Intent.
Link
to Full Announcement
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=268964
Contact
Information
Nicole
L. Blackstone
720-356-1445