Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Clean Fuels & Products Shot: Supporting Carbon Utilization Products via Electrochemical Conversion and Refinery Retrofitting | DE FOA 0003122

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003122

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Clean Fuels and Products Shot funding notice (DE-FOA-0003122) is a Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management effort, administered through the National Energy Technology Laboratory, that signals DOE's intent to issue a related full Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0003018). The core focus is carbon utilization and carbon conversion: turning anthropogenic carbon oxides (in practice, CO2 and related industrial carbon-oxide streams) into commercially viable products that can compete with existing products while delivering meaningful, measurable reductions in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to incumbent technologies, processes, and products. In other words, the program is not just about capturing carbon, but about converting it into useful fuels and products in ways that lower overall climate impact when you account for emissions across the entire supply chain and product lifecycle.

This opportunity sits under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, specifically Section 40302, the Carbon Utilization Program, which amended Section 969A of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16298a). That statutory framing matters because it anchors the program in a federal mandate to advance carbon utilization technologies toward real-world deployment and market adoption, rather than leaving the work at the basic research stage. The notice describes the effort as part of a "Carbon Conversion" program, emphasizing practical pathways that can scale and that can demonstrate net lifecycle benefits relative to today's standard approaches.

Technically, the planned funding will target two related themes called out in the title: (1) supporting carbon utilization products via electrochemical conversion, and (2) refinery and petrochemical facilities retrofitting. Electrochemical conversion generally refers to using electricity (often with catalysts and specialized reactors) to convert carbon oxides into value-added chemicals, intermediates, or fuels. The refinery and petrochemical retrofitting element points to integrating these carbon conversion processes into existing industrial assets, which is a key strategy for commercialization because it can leverage established infrastructure, utilities, product handling systems, and workforce expertise. The overarching intent is to move toward cleaner fuels and products by pairing carbon-derived feedstocks and conversion technologies with pragmatic deployment strategies at industrial sites.

From an administrative and eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is listed as a discretionary grant program using a cooperative agreement funding instrument. Cooperative agreements typically mean DOE expects substantial involvement during project execution, such as technical oversight, milestone reviews, and active collaboration to manage risk and ensure project objectives are met. The activity category is energy, environment, science and technology, and other research and development, and the CFDA number listed is 81.089. Eligibility is shown as unrestricted, which generally indicates a broad pool of applicants may apply (for example, private companies, universities, nonprofits, national labs, and state or local entities), subject to the detailed requirements that would be spelled out in the full FOA.

As published in the source data, the notice was created on 2023-12-21 and lists an original closing date of 2024-02-12. The award ceiling is shown as 2 (as written in the listing), and the expected awards field is shown as 0, which is a common artifact in early-stage notices or listings and does not necessarily reflect the eventual number of awards under the full FOA. The agency name is the National Energy Technology Laboratory, acting on behalf of DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.

At a practical level, the main takeaway is that DOE is teeing up funding to accelerate carbon-to-products pathways that can be proven at meaningful scale, with an explicit requirement that the resulting products and processes show significant net lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions. The combination of electrochemical conversion and refinery/petrochemical retrofits suggests DOE is looking for projects that not only demonstrate novel conversion performance, but also address real deployment constraints like integration with existing operations, product specifications, reliability, and pathways to commercial adoption.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, environment, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) - Clean Fuels & Products Shot: Supporting Carbon Utilization Products via Electrochemical Conversion and Refinery Retrofitting" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-12. (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 $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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