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Golden Field Office · Department of Energy

Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT)

Open · Opportunity DE-FOA-0003647 · Assistance Listing 81.087

Key facts

Deadline
Due Dec 1, 2026 · 55 days left
Award size
$2M – $20M
Total available
$58M · about 10 awards
Cost share / match ?
Required
Who can apply
Private college or university, Other (see eligibility), Tribal government, Nonprofit with 501(c)(3), State government, Special district (utility, fire, etc.), City or town government, Public college or university, Tribal organization, Individuals, School district, Small business, Nonprofit without 501(c)(3), County government, Larger business
Where
Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee

Before you apply: federal grants require an active SAM.gov registration (Unique Entity ID) and a Grants.gov account. Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Grant-ready checklist

How this fits you

  • Available in Tennessee (nationwide program)
  • Requires a cost share / match
  • Tennessee recipients since 2023: 17

Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.

More from Golden Field Office

Read the official notice View on Grants.gov Add deadline to my calendar Sign in to save

About this grant

Modification 000002: Updated Appendix A and the definition of “Construction and demolition waste”, also denoted as “C&D Waste”, to align with the programmatic authorizing statute for the Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office listed in NOFO Part 1, Section III.G. Statutory Authority. • “Construction and demolition waste,” for the purposes of this NOFO and consistent with the statutory authorities1, refers to waste organic materials from buildings, roads and bridges, and other sectors, but not included in municipal solid waste. It includes wood waste materials, including waste pallets, crates, dunnage, manufacturing and construction wood wastes (other than pressure-treated, chemically-treated, or painted wood wastes), and landscape or right-of-way tree trimmings. Updated Section III.D. Key Requirements and Section III.F. Applications Specifically Not of Interest to specify that target chemicals should have global annual markets or potential markets of at least 1 million metric tons. • Previously this metric was given as U.S. production of at least 1 million metric tons. Modification 000001: Moved the application content requirement for Letter(s) of Commitment (LOCs) from Stage 2 to Stage 1. • Added a clause in Section III.D indicating that LOCs are to be submitted with Stage 1 applications. • Updated the summary table in Section IV.D.2 to reflect the above (added Stage 1 LOC requirement) • Updated the summary table in Section IV.E.1 to reflect the above (added “(as needed, in addition to Stage 1 submittals)”). DOE CMEI is dedicated to securing America’s energy future by reinforcing domestic critical mineral supply chains, driving next-generation energy technology and manufacturing research, and promoting affordable, consumer-friendly solutions. CMEI’s AFFO is issuing this ASPECT NOFO, DE-FOA-0003647, to support research, development, and pre-pilot testing of innovative technologies that produce chemicals from alternative and waste feedstocks, mobilizing America’s abundant alternative feedstocks resources. The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to advance promising chemical technologies that utilize alternative feedstocks through multiple levels of maturity and, in some cases, to pre-pilot scale. To accomplish this, the NOFO is divided into two topic areas, each divided into two subtopic areas designed to provide different...

Eligibility (from the notice)

As one of the main goals of this NOFO is to move technologies quickly to market, participation of the following entities is limited as follows: Institutions of higher education are eligible to participate as a recipient or subrecipient for Topic Area 1 but are only eligible to participate as a subrecipient for Topic Area 2. Provided there is no conflict of interest, DOE FFRDCs3 are eligible to apply for funding as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. Non-DOE FFRDCs are eligible to participate as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. Federal agencies and instrumentalities (other than DOE) are eligible to participate as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is eligible to apply as a subrecipient, not as prime recipient.

Who in Tennessee has won this program

17 awards to Tennessee recipients in 7 counties since federal FY2023. Largest shown:

Past Tennessee recipients
RecipientWhereAmountFY
University Of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$20M2020
Espin Technologies, Inc.Chattanooga, Hamilton County$6.3M2025
University Of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$3.9M2024
Silicon Ranch CorporationNashville, Davidson County$3.1M2022
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$2.5M2017
Drg Technical Solutions LlcMemphis, Shelby County$2.4M2026
University Of TennesseeTullahoma, Franklin County$1.4M2019
University Of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$1.4M2018
Captis Aire LlcLenoir City, Loudon County$1.3M2024
Carbon Rivers, IncKnoxville, Knox County$1.1M2023
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$859K2019
University Of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$751K2021

Source: USAspending.gov. Past awards show who this program funds; they don't guarantee future awards.

About the program (81.087)

Renewable Energy Research and Development — Renewable Energy

How applications are judged

Selection will be based on an objective merit review, program policy factors, the availability of funds, provisions of appropriation laws, reports, and as otherwise specified in specific solicitation document(s) at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/.

Matching requirements

Statutory Formula: Title 2, Part 910, Subpart 130 Cost sharing (EPACT),Public Law 109-58.Energy Policy Act 2005 (Section 988)This program has statutorily required cost share percentages based on project type: Education & Outreach 0%, Research & Development 20%, Demonstration and Commercialization 50%.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Examples of funded projects

Not Applicable.

Program listing on SAM.gov

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