MEGA-BIO: Bioproducts to Enable Biofuels | DE FOA 0001433

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001433

MEGA-BIO: Bioproducts to Enable Biofuels (DE-FOA-0001433) is a U.S. Department of Energy opportunity issued through EERE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) to fund research, development, and demonstration projects that improve how lignocellulosic biomass is converted into renewable hydrocarbon fuels, while also making room for bioproducts that strengthen project economics. The central idea is flexibility: DOE is looking for conversion pathways that can shift the output mix between fuels and higher-value products depending on external conditions such as market demand, pricing, and near-term revenue opportunities. Rather than treating fuels and chemicals as separate tracks, the program emphasizes integrated strategies where bioproducts help make fuel production viable sooner and at lower risk, particularly by supporting early deployment and improving returns during scale-up.

A key context for the funding is BETO's stated cost target: by 2022, the program aimed for renewable hydrocarbon fuels from lignocellulosic biomass to reach a modeled cost of $3 per gallon gasoline equivalent (gge). Historically, some pathway development has focused heavily on maximizing fuel yields, with limited emphasis on coproducts. DOE notes that, for many technologies, relying on fuels alone can make it hard to reach an attractive rate of return in the near term, especially while processes are still maturing. By enabling revenue from value-added chemicals or products alongside fuels, projects can improve financial performance and help "de-risk" the front end of the biomass conversion chain, including feedstock logistics, preprocessing, and deconstruction steps that are essential regardless of the final fuel product.

The FOA encourages applicants to propose pathways that either (1) produce a platform chemical from biomass that can be upgraded into fuels or diverted into product markets, or (2) directly coproduce fuels and chemicals in an integrated process. In both cases, the flexibility to modulate the split between fuels and products is important, because it is meant to help facilities respond to changing market signals without undermining the long-term goal of large-scale hydrocarbon fuel production. DOE is explicit that it does not want projects that pursue bioproducts as a standalone objective; the bioproduct component must be clearly tied to enabling, accelerating, or reducing the cost and risk of producing advanced biofuels.

Applications are expected to make a strong, evidence-based case for why the chosen target molecule(s) should be produced from biomass and how those molecules fit into a credible pathway toward renewable hydrocarbon fuels. Competitive submissions should include a persuasive narrative linking the bioproduct strategy to fuel cost competitiveness and scale-up, along with supporting techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) to quantify cost, performance, and sustainability implications. The emphasis on TEA and LCA signals that DOE wants more than promising chemistry or biology; it wants projects that demonstrate a realistic line of sight to economic viability and meaningful environmental benefits when deployed.

The notice also includes an administrative modification: DOE updated Section I.c ("Applications specifically not of interest") by deleting a bullet that had previously stated the program was not interested in applications relying on purely heterotrophic algae cultivation. In practical terms, that change removes an explicit exclusion and indicates that, at least within this FOA, such approaches are no longer categorically listed as out of scope, though applicants would still need to meet the broader requirement that the work supports flexible pathways to hydrocarbon biofuels with an enabling bioproduct component.

From a funding logistics standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary DOE funding program administered by the Golden Field Office, with awards issued as cooperative agreements (which typically involve substantial DOE involvement during project execution). Eligible applicants are listed as unrestricted, the maximum award amount (ceiling) is $8,000,000, and DOE anticipated making about 7 awards. The original application closing date was April 15, 2016, and applications were required to be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE portal, where the full FOA and submission instructions were posted.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "MEGA-BIO: Bioproducts to Enable Biofuels" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-02-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-04-15. (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 $8,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0001433

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