IEDO FY24 Energy and Emissions Intensive Industries FOA

Office: Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office
FOA Number: DE-FOA-0003219
Available Funding: $83 million

Description

On Jan. 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) announced an $83 million funding opportunity that will decrease emissions in the hardest to decarbonize industrial subsectors. 

Decarbonizing the U.S. industrial sector is key to achieving the nation’s clean energy goals. By accelerating the development and adoption of sustainable technologies that increase efficiency and eliminate industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this funding will help tackle the climate crisis, boost the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing, and create good-paying jobs for American workers.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) focuses on applied research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) for the highest GHG-emitting industrial subsectors, specifically: chemicals and fuels; iron and steel; food and beverage; building and infrastructure materials (including cement and concrete, asphalt pavements, and glass); and forest products. Together, these industries account for more than 65% of U.S. industrial manufacturing emissions.

Topic Areas

Topic 1: Decarbonizing Chemicals & Fuels

Within this topic, IEDO seeks to accelerate next generation industrial efficiency and decarbonization technologies for the production of chemicals and fuels. This topic seeks applications that address challenges specific to chemical processes and related to improving the energy and material efficiency, utilizing low carbon energy sources, or advancing technologies which utilize sustainable chemical feedstocks:

• Area of Interest 1 – Advanced Process Technologies to Convert Sustainable Feedstocks to Hydrocarbon Chemicals and Fuels
• Area of Interest 2 – Advanced Processes for Production of Nonhydrocarbon Products
• Area of Interest 3 – Chemicals Value Chain Decarbonization.

Topic 2: Decarbonizing Iron and Steel

Within this topic, IEDO seeks to advance innovative, high-impact decarbonization opportunities in the iron and steel industry:

• Area of Interest 1 – Alternative Ironmaking Process Technologies 
• Area of Interest 2 – Ore Improvements 
• Area of interest 3 – Improving Steel Recyclability through Reducing Tramp Metal Contaminants 
• Area of Interest 4 – Low-Carbon Steelmaking Technologies. 

Topic 3: Decarbonizing Food and Beverage Products 

Within this topic, IEDO seeks the development and demonstration of high-impact decarbonization solutions for a wide variety of food and beverage operations across a full spectrum of applications, including post-harvest activities, wholesale baking and ingredients manufacturing, product fermentation, and livestock processing and rendering: 

• Area of Interest 1 – Innovations in Food Packaging 
• Area of Interest 2 – Innovations in Commercial Foodservice 
• Area of Interest 3 – Decarbonization of Alternative Protein Production 
• Area of Interest 4 – Energy Input Redistribution in Food and Beverage Processing 
• Area of Interest 5 – Reduction of Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions during the Post-Harvesting Activities. 

Topic 4: Decarbonizing Building and Infrastructure Materials – Cement and Concrete, Asphalt, and Glass

The U.S. produces approximately 95 MMT of cement each year, representing nearly 400 million cubic yards of concrete. The complex value chain of this sector allows for opportunities in CO₂ savings from clinker substitution to final product end-of-life valorization. Cement areas of interest focus on addressing process emissions: 

• Area of Interest 1 – Novel Cement Formulations in Combination with Alternative Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM)
• Area of Interest 2 – Novel Lime/Portland Cement Production Processes.

Asphalt pavements are widely used in roadways and other paving application in the 454 MMT of asphalt pavement materials produced per year. The asphalt area of interest focused on challenging the use of lower temperature mix as well as new raw materials without sacrificing performances: 

• Area of Interest 3 – Low Carbon Asphalt Pavements. 

U.S. glass manufacturing is a $31 billion industry providing more than 89,000 jobs. The glass area of interest focuses on accelerating decarbonization and sustainability of the glass industry: 

• Area of Interest 4 – Glass Decarbonization.

Topic 5: Decarbonizing Forest Products 

Within this topic, IEDO seeks to address high-impact decarbonization opportunities in energy-intensive pulp, paper, and wood products manufacturing:

• Area of Interest 1 – Novel Dewatering and Drying Technologies 
• Area of Interest 2 – Innovative Fiber Preparation, Pulping and Chemical Recovery Processes. 

Topic 6: Industrial Pre-FEED Studies

Preliminary Front-End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) refers to a stage of project development—after basic feasibility study and conceptual design—which develops the initial concept into a detailed Design Basis and Scope of Work to ensure a project is economically and technically feasible as well as accurately estimated. Within this topic, IEDO, the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management seek to reduce barriers for accelerated industrial adoption by de-risking innovative decarbonization technologies within operational environments: 

• Area of Interest 1 – Integration of Clean Hydrogen in the Industrial Sector 
• Area of Interest 2 – Carbon Capture for the Industrial Sector 
• Area of Interest 3 – Integrated Process Pre-FEED. 

Key Dates