Fwd: Notice of Upcoming "Demonstration of Integrated Biorefinery Operations" FOA

From: "Brent Searle" <bsearle@oda.state.or.us> To: "Jan Auyong" <jan.auyong@oregonstate.edu>, "Russ Karow" <russell.s.karow@orst.edu>, "Stephanie A Page" spage@oda.state.or.us

[JEM NOTE: Blue highlight are alerts. Jim's comments are in red.]

Begin forwarded message:

Notice of Upcoming "Demonstration of Integrated Biorefinery Operations" Funding Opportunity Announcement

Funding Organization: Biomass Program

Summary: This is a Notice of an Upcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement - NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.

This Notice of Intent is to inform the public of an upcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), anticipates announcing a notice of availability of funding for financial assistance from the Office of the Biomass Program. DOE intends to publish this FOA within 45 days after the posting of this Notice. The upcoming FOA will be issued under authorization of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, Section 932. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 within Title XIII, Energy Policy Tax Incentives cited in EPAct 2005 and Sections 1345 and 1346 (renewable fuel and biodiesel credits) of EPAct 2005 may provide additional impetus and credit enhancements for potential applicants to respond to this announcement. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) codifies the President's "20 in 10" plan with provisions that support the continued development and use of biofuels, including a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The feedstocks proposed for eligibility in this FOA are expected to contribute to the RFS goal of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022.

For more information, see the Notice of Intent.

Additional Information:
Questions will only be accepted through email to GO38010@go.doe.gov. DOE will not necessarily respond to questions, however, questions will be taken into consideration for the final draft of the FOA and answered on the Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS) after the FOA is posted. DOE anticipates holding a webcast or other means of providing additional guidance to potential applicants within 30-60 days after the FOA is posted. After the FOA is posted, the application package must be accessed, completed, and submitted through Grants.gov athttp://www.grants.gov/ to be considered for review.

DESCRIPTION:
This Notice of Intent is to inform the public of an upcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), anticipates announcing a notice of availability of funding for financial assistance from the Office of the Biomass Program. DOE intends to publish this FOA within 45 days after the posting of this Notice. The upcoming FOA will be issued under authorization of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, Section 932. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 within Title XIII, Energy Policy Tax Incentives cited in EPAct 2005 and Sections 1345 and 1346 (renewable fuel and biodiesel credits) of EPAct 2005 may provide additional impetus and credit enhancements for potential applicants to respond to this announcement. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) codifies the President’s “20 in 10” plan with provisions that support the continued development and use of biofuels, including a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The feedstocks proposed for eligibility in this FOA are expected to contribute to the RFS goal of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022. Applications to the upcoming FOA will be evaluated using criteria similar to those used in two recent DOE Funding Opportunity Announcements (DE-PS36- 06GO96016 and DE-PS36-07GO97003), and outlined in EPAct 2005, particularly in relation to conducting an RD&D program in biomass conversion to fuels.

The intent of the upcoming FOA will be to select integrated biorefinery projects that have the necessary technical and economic performance data that validates readiness for the next level of scale up. THIS IS SWEETHEART CRITERIA FOR THE FEW FIRMS WHICH ARE AT THIS STAGE. : Pacific Green, Inc., Solazyme, Changing World Technologies, and Best Technologies. These integrated biorefineries would produce as their primary product a liquid transportation fuel to support meeting the advanced biofuels portion of the EISA RFS.

DOE encourages applications that propose to demonstrate novel or breakthrough technologies THIS IDEA IS GOOD FOR PILOT PLANTS; THIS CRITERIA CONFLICTS WITH THE ABOVE SWEETHEART CRITERIA LIMITATION and those that include appropriate collaboration between and among industry, academia, and DOE National Laboratories, FFRDCs (Federally Funded Research and Development Centers) or other government-funded facilities.

The FOA will have two topic areas as described below. Each topic area will be related to beneficial use of renewable biomass for the production of liquid transportation biofuel(s) that is/are a replacement for fossil derived liquid transportation fuels. An acceptable biofuel (as described below) must be the primary product proposed in the application. The “primary product” is the commodity offered for sale resulting from the operation of the integrated biorefinery that produces the highest energy output as measured in British Thermal Units. THE MEASURE SHOULD BE IN NET ENERGY YIELD BTU'S, NOT THE HIGHEST OUTPUT WHICH COULD HAVE A SMALL NET ENERGY YIELD. ALSO CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE GIVEN HOW THE FEEDSTOCK IS DERIVED. AS AN EXAMPLE ETHANOL FROM FOOD GRAINS WOULD HAVE A MUCH SMALLER NET EHERGY YIELD WHEN THE COST OF GROWING AND HARVESTING THE FOOD GRAINS IS INCLUDED. FEEDSTOCK FOR BIODIESEL FROM OIL SEEDS WOULD HAVE A SIMILAR LOWER NET ENRGY YIELD WHEN THE COST OF GROWING AND HARVESTING IS INCLUDED.




For the purpose of the upcoming FOA, the fuels must be liquid at standard temperature and pressure. Biobased chemicals and substitutes for petroleum based feedstocks and products may be included as part of the integrated biorefinery provided that they are not the primary product and the application demonstrates that they have credible economics to improve the viability of the proposed biorefinery. YOU SHOULD MENTION ELECTRICITY. A PROCESS COULD USE A HUGE AMOUNT. AGAIN, THE NET ENERGY YIELD SHOULD BE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA. THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA IS THE SIZE OF THE CARBON FOOTPRINT, INCLUDING ADDING TO THE SIZE, NON-GREEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY. Potential applicants should note that the technology for producing heat and power by conventional means is established technology, and the FOA will be designed to address the high technical risk associated primarily with converting bio-based feedstocks to biofuels rather than heat and power. Hence for the upcoming FOA, applications that propose refineries producing heat and power as the major products would be considered non-responsive. THIS LIMITATION COULD ELIMINATE MANY WORTH WHILE PROJECTS, SUCH AS THE FORT APACHE PULP MILL IN ARIZONA, WHICH CAN USE THE BIOHEAT FOR HEATING AND MAKING ELECTRICITY FOR THE PLANT AND SELL ANY EXCESS GREEN ELECTRICITY TO THE GRID. THIS LIMITATION STRIKES A BLOW TO THE SYNGAS AND BIOCHAR PROJECTS. BIOCHAR IS THE NEW AGRICULTURAL “BLACK GOLD” WHICH ELIMINATES PETROLEUM-BASED FERTILIZERS. YOU ARE NOT THINKING THE PROBLEM THROUGH TO ITS LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS – TO REDUCE THE TOTAL MOUNT OF FOSSIL PETROLEUM USED. Projects may, however, propose producing heat and power using waste streams resulting from a biorefinery if the production of an eligible liquid transportation biofuel is the primary product. Syngas, which could be used in the Fort Apache Pulp Mill plant for CHP, is the more efficient use of pyrolysis; however producer gas can be made into producer oil which is then fractionalized into biogasoline, biodiesel, bioheating oil and bioroad tar. You need a scientist who is really into syngas and biochar to structure the FOA. Each applicant may submit only one application to the FOA. Topic Area 1 Topic Area 1 will request applicants to operate an integrated biorefinery to validate the technology at the pilot-scale. TOO FEW COMPANIES ARE TRULY PAST THE PILOT PROJECT STAGE PLEASE SPLIT THE FOA IN TWO SECTIONS AND OFFER GRANTS FOR THE PILOT STAGE AND A SECOND SECTION FOR POST-PILOT STAGE PROJECTS.

The biorefinery must be located within the United States and use feedstock from a domestic source. The focus of this topic will be to validate the performance of the proposed technology and obtain operational information, so, in lieu of constructing a new facility, the applicant may propose the use of an existing pilot-scale biorefinery. Applicants may propose constructing new facilities or modifications to an existing facility (including adding equipment or modules) where it is economically and technically advantageous to do so. The proposed pilot-scale biorefinery must be designed with a throughput of no less than one (1) dry tonne of feedstock per day. To support DOE’s goals, it is expected that the pilot-scale projects proposed under Topic Area 1 will be operational within three to four years after the FOA is posted. For Topic Area 1, biorefinery technologies and systems are sought that have the capability to proceed rapidly to commercialization after successful completion of the project proposed and further development at the demonstration stage. Only those applicants who are willing and able to take the integrated technology to a demonstration scale in the near- to mid-term and have a sound business strategy to deploy and/or license and market the technology commercially should apply.

Although conceptual in nature, applicants will be required to provide preliminary design and economic projections for an envisioned first commercial biorefinery using the technology validated as a result of the proposed project. This criteria is correct, but conflicts with the first limitation mention, that of having “data” from an existing pilot-scale project. Please eliminate the requirement of “data from” and eliminate the pre-existing “pilot-plant” limitation.

The applicant will be required to demonstrate successful completion of sufficient bench- or pilot- scale data using the proposed feedstock to justify the basis for using the proposed technology and the scale up factors for the proposed pilot scale integrated biorefinery. THIS IS NOT CLEAR. Is the “demonstration” to have occurred by the applicant before the application is submitted, or can it be a part of the proposed scope of work within the grant boundaries? For instance, NREL did extensive studies on growing algae. Greenfuel Technologies demonstrated, beyond any further need for proof, it could grow algae on a commercial scale. There is no reason an applicant would need to have completed a pilot plant growing algae for fuel, with this much proven science and engineering at the commercial level. The criteria should not require the applicant to have “demonstrate successful completion” as long as the applicant can demonstrate the technology has been demonstrated by others. A limited amount (up to 10% of the total project budget) of preparatory work to support the design of the proposed pilot-scale project will be allowed within the scope of the project. Preparatory work may include limited research and development (R&D) including equipment, salaries, supplies, and facility use fees. This sentence seems to explain that the “demonstration” mentioned above can be one of the items within the scope of work for which the grant is made. Please eliminate the conflicting requirements of “data from a [existing] pilot plant.” The applicant must provide a minimum cost share of 30% for Topic Area 1. Total project budget includes both the DOE and cost share funds. Costs incurred prior to selection under the upcoming FOA will not be reimbursable or allowed as cost share

Topic Area 2
Topic Area 2 will request that applicants design, construct and operate an integrated biorefinery to validate the technology at the demonstration-scale. The biorefinery must be located within the United States and use feedstock from a domestic source. The objective of this topic will be to support demonstration scale projects that will validate key process metrics and provide continuous operational data at the scale needed to lower the technical risks associated with financing a future commercial plant. Applicants may propose constructing new facilities or modifications to an existing facility (including adding equipment or modules) where it is economically and technically advantageous to do so. The proposed demonstration-scale biorefinery must be designed and constructed for a throughput of at least fifty (50) dry tonnes of feedstock per day. Here is nonsense requirement. For example, there is a cooperative in Ireland which is making pellets from woody waste and giant grasses. Fifty tons a day is a scale easily accomplished by them. On the other hand, if the feedstock is algae (50% lipids), fifty dry tons would require a huge investment of capital which in today's market is unobtainable. Further, this size scale for algae would require a vastly expanded geographical area which would increase the cost haul and haul back. The major emphasis should be on smaller plants which are “local”, thereby serving the fuel needs of the “locavores”. Further, this scale requirements almost certainly would require a mega-corporation to build and operate the plant, cutting out the small businesses. We need to encourage the creation of small businesses enterprises in the energy field, not cut them out. Please remove the 50 tons per day as a criteria. Again, the primary criteria should be NET ENERGY YIELD, not some figure grabbed out of the air which has no relationship to fiscal reality.

To support DOE’s goals, it is expected that the demonstration-scale biorefinery projects proposed under Topic Area 2 will be operational within three to four years after the FOA is posted. For Topic Area 2, biorefinery technologies and systems are sought that can proceed rapidly to commercial demonstration following successful completion of the proposed project. Only those applicants who are willing and able to take the integrated technology to a commercial scale in the near- to mid-term and have a sound business strategy to deploy and/or license and market the technology should apply. Although conceptual in nature, applicants will be required to provide preliminary design and economic projections for an envisioned first commercial biorefinery using the technology validated as a result of the proposed project. The applicant must have sufficient integrated pilot- or demonstration scale data using the proposed feedstock to justify the basis for the selection of the technology and the scale up factor for the proposed demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery.

The applicant must demonstrate having successfully completed sufficient work at pilot scale for any substantially new processes included in the application in order to be considered for this topic area. A new process is defined as a major functional step in a process that incorporates technology that is new to the industry. DEFINE “NEW”. Syngas is not “new”. Its co-product, BIOCHAR, is 7000 years old. Yet these two co-products of pyrolysis is “new” in the sense that it has been “rediscovered” and engineering advances are being made. Please delete this criteria or at least allow for combinations of new and old and enhancement of old technology.

For the purpose of the upcoming FOA, “new” will be defined as a process that is unproven in commercial use. A limited amount of preparatory work to support the design of the proposed demonstration-scale project will be allowed within the scope of the project. Up to 5% [should be 20%] of the total project cost will be allowed for doing the preparatory work. Preparatory work may include limited research and development (R&D) including feedstock development, equipment, salaries, supplies and facility use fees. The whole point of the grant is to find out what works and does not work (or is likely to work/not work) at larger scale. There are many threads to run in the R & D phase, most of which will probably dead end. The FOA should allow for many dead ends. The applicant must provide a minimum cost share of 50% for Topic Area 2.

Total project budget includes both the DOE and cost share funds. Costs incurred prior to selection under the upcoming FOA will not be reimbursable or allowed as cost share. Acceptable Feedstocks The applicant must propose the use of at least one high impact feedstock, which is defined as a domestically available feedstock with an ultimate sustainable potential of at least 100 million dry metric tonnes of biomass per year. Acceptable feedstocks must be domestically available and compliant with the definitions provided in this section. The acceptable feedstocks in the upcoming FOA must be available in sufficient quantities to support the RFS goal of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022. Using the definitions of “renewable biomass” as stated in EPAct 2005, EISA 2007, and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Title IX, Sec. 9001, as guidance, for the purpose of the FOA, the eligible feedstocks will be those listed below:





(A) materials, pre-commercial thinnings, or invasive species from National Forest System land and public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)) that – (i) are byproducts of preventive treatments that are removed – (I) to reduce hazardous fuels; (II) to reduce or contain disease or insect infestation; or (III) to restore ecosystem health; (ii) would not otherwise be used for higher-value products; and (iii) are harvested in accordance with – (I) applicable law and land management plans; and (II) the requirements for i. old-growth maintenance, restoration, and management direction of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (e) of section 102 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6512); and ii. large-tree retention of subsection (f) of that section; or (B) any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis from non-Federal land or land belonging to an Indian or Indian tribe that is held in trust by the United States or subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States, including – (i) renewable plant material, including — (I) other plants and trees; and (II) algae; and (ii) waste material, including— (I) crop residue; (II) other vegetative waste material (including wood waste and wood residues); (III) food waste and yard waste. For the purpose of the upcoming FOA, “food waste and yard waste” identified in (B) (ii) (III) excludes waste oils and greases. No plant based material that is generally intended for use as food can be employed as a feedstock. Hence, sugars and oils derived from soy, canola, sunflower, peanut, etc. will be excluded. The determining factor will be the typical use of the material in commerce. Use of excess oil production of foodgrade oil also does not constitute an eligible feedstock. Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) is also excluded. Acceptable Biofuels Using the definitions of “advanced biofuel” as stated in EPAct 2005, EISA 2007, and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Title IX, Sec. 9001, as guidance, for the purpose of the FOA, the acceptable biofuels will be those listed below:

T (A) Advanced Biofuel.— (i) In General.—The term ‘advanced biofuel’ means renewable fuel, other than ethanol derived from corn starch, that has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, as determined by the (EPA) Administrator, after notice and opportunity for comment, that are at least 50 percent less than baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. (ii) Inclusions.—The types of fuels eligible for consideration as ‘advanced biofuel’ may include any of the following: (I) Ethanol derived from cellulose, hemicellulose, or lignin. (II) Ethanol derived from waste material, including crop residue, other vegetative waste material, animal waste, and food waste and yard waste. (III) Biomass-based diesel. (IV) Butanol or other alcohols produced through the conversion of organic matter from renewable biomass. (V) Other fuel derived from cellulosic biomass. For the purpose of the upcoming FOA, 1) “food waste and yard waste” identified in (A) (ii) (II) excludes waste starch, oils and greases; Why would you want to cut out animal fats from rendering plants and oils from kitchen operations? We need biofuels from as many sources as possible. Please eliminate the oil and grease limitation. 2) butanol or other alcohols as identified in (A) (ii) (IV) must be derived from only cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, or algae; 3) biobased diesel and gasoline substitutes derived from algae will be eligible. An acceptable biofuel proposed as the primary product by an applicant must be a currently accepted and widely available biofuel (such as ethanol), or applicants are encouraged to propose new biofuels (such as bio-butanol). For fuels that are not currently widely accepted and available, the application must show that if the proposed project achieves its economic and technical success factors, that the proposed biofuel could be successfully commercialized in the timeframe and in the volumes that would reasonably be expected to significantly contribute to the goal of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022. Applications proposing fuels that are not currently widely accepted and available must describe a clear path to achieving the status of an acceptable liquid transportation biofuel, including but not limited to the following: obtaining vehicle manufacturer(s) approval; EPA fuel registration(s); obtaining standards established for use, production, storage, transportation, and retail dispensing; and, for establishing the distribution/dispensing infrastructure. Note that although an estimate of the costs and a discussion of the activities required for eventually commercializing the proposed biofuel must be described in the application, it is not required nor expected that the proposed project will include the scope for actually commercializing the new biofuel. Estimated Available Funding Estimated total funding available: up to $200,000,000 over the project period Expected number of awards: 5-12 projects distributed between both Pilot and Demonstration Scale Anticipated award size: $40,000,000 for Demonstration scale projects and $15,000,000 for Pilot scale projects. All funding is subject to Congressional appropriations in each fiscal year. Eligible Applicants All types of domestic entities will be eligible to apply, except other Federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) Contractors including DOE National Laboratories, and nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995.



Participation of DOE National Laboratories, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) Contractors or other government agencies. All DOE National Laboratories, FFRDCs or other government agencies will be eligible as participants subject to the guidance stated below. These entities will be eligible to participate, but will not be eligible to be the prime recipient. If proposed as a participant, in addition to the authorizations required by the FOA, the application must include documentation (similar to what will be required from all proposed participants) that includes a description of the services, resources, and facilities that will be used for the project and a statement by the participant that they will be available to the project in the timeframe called for in the application. For Topic Area 1, the DOE National Laboratory, FFRDC or other government agency effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 50% of the total estimated cost of the project with the exception that if the facility is provided by such an organization, their effort may be up to 70% of the total estimated cost of the project. For Topic Area 2, the DOE National Laboratory, FFRDC or other government agency effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 5% of the total estimated cost of the project. QUESTION: What weight, if any, is given to institutional participation during the evaluation phase of the application? For example, NREL would be a likely participant for a pilot project on growing algae, since it has experience in that field. NREL would not be a good partner in the extraction of algal oil. Thus, we might need different partners in each of three areas: growing algae (NREL), extracting the algal oil (university? Private engineering firm?) and making the biodiesel (most likely a private firm, e.g. Imperium Renewables, Inc.). Other Information Questions will only be accepted through email to GO38010@go.doe.gov. DOE will not necessarily respond to questions, however, questions will be taken into consideration for the final draft of the FOA and answered on the Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS) after the FOA is posted. DOE anticipates holding a webcast or other means of providing additional guidance to potential applicants within 30-60 days after the FOA is posted. After the FOA is posted, the application package must be accessed, completed, and submitted through Grants.gov at http://www.grants.gov to be considered for review.

Additional Information US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - http://www.eere.energy.gov/ Office of the Biomass Program - http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/


DISCLAIMER This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE's intention to issue this Funding Opportunity Announcement. Any of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change depending on the needs of DOE’s Office of the Biomass Program. Funds for this FOA and any projects selected under this announcement will be contingent upon the availability of appropriated Fiscal Year funds.