DOE to award $90M in funds for pilot/demonstration biorefinery projects
Important news for the biorefining sector in
USA, specifically for those companies currently focused on the scale-up and
validation of novel process technologies. DOE has been funding biorefinery technology
development projects through BETO since 2002 to reduce dependence on imported
oil and spur the creation of the domestic bioindustries. Now, after the announcement of
intention issued on April 15th (already reported by the blog, see
previous post),
it has just published a new Funding
Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Project Development for Pilot and
Demonstration Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower
(PD2B3)” on the EERE Exchange.
With the information of the official document, it
is possible to fill out the summary about the FOA that was brought forward in
the previous post.
Goal and scope: identify, evaluate and select applications
proposing project development and execution plans for the manufacture of
advanced biofuels, bioproducts, refinery compatible intermediates or biopower
in a pilot or demonstration scale Integrated Biorefinery (IBR).
Phases of the projects:
1. Design (24 months). Some key outcomes: FEL
design, Project Management Plan (PMP), Risk Mitigation Plan (RMP), Life Cycle
Analysis (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA).
2. Construction / Operation (36 months).
Only projects selected and awarded under Phase
1 will be allowed to participate in the down-select review prior to Phase 2.
Topic areas:
1. Pilot scale production of biofuels from high
impact cellulosic, algal or biogas feedstocks. Minimum feedstock throughput
must be 1 dry metric ton per day or equivalent throughput of algal biomass or
biogas.
2. Demonstration scale production of biofuels
from high impact cellulosic, algal or biogas feedstocks. Minimum feedstock
throughput must be 50 dry metric ton per day or equivalent of algal biomass or
biogas. Bioproducts and biopower are only allowed as co-products from the
facility.
3. Production of biopower or biofuels from
biosolids and other allowable waste streams. Minimum feedstock throughput must be 1 dry
metric ton per day.
Notes:
- All Topic Area 1 and 2 applications must
propose an advanced biofuel (or combination of them) as the primary salable product
containing at least 50% of the biogenic carbon when leaving the facility. Bioproducts
and biopower are only allowed as co-products from the facility.
- “High Impact Feedstock” is
defined as a feedstock that is domestically available and has the agronomically
and ecologically sustainable ultimate availability potential of at least 50
million dry metric tons of cellulosic biomass per year.
- Applications may also
address strategies to produce an intermediate that would further be upgraded to
fuels and products in an existing petroleum refinery.
Estimated funding: $90 million. $38 million for Phase 1 and the
remaining $52 million for Phase 2. An additional $128 million may be available
for Phase 2 awards (subjected to future Congressional appropriations).
- Forecast for Phase 1:
Topic Area 1: 5-10 awards with an average
award amount of $2 million.
Topic Area 2: 2-4 awards with an average award amount of $4
million.
Topic Area 3: 1-2 awards with an average
award amount of $2 million.
- Forecast for Phase 2:
Topic Area 1: 2-5 awards with a
maximum award amount of $15 million.
Topic Area 2: 1-2 awards with a maximum award amount of $45
million.
Topic Area 3: 1 award with a
maximum award amount of $2 million.
Pilot and demostration production is an essential
step in the product development cycle and require huge investments to cover
infrastructure, equipment and highly specialized multi-disciplinary personnel. This
call will support those key activities to transform laboratory prototypes into
commercial facilities with a realistic approach. In my opinion, this is a good
way forward for biorefining sector to blossom.
