Grants / Department of Energy / Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy

DE-FOA-0002536: Request for Information (RFI) on Steel Made via Emissions-Less Technologies (SMELT)

Closed Closed June 14, 2021 Opportunity DE-FOA-0002536 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Unlocking New Levels of Output and Capacity for Key Subsurface Resources (UNLOCK) (DE-FOA-0003630). Status: Closes November 20, 2026 (13 days left). It is in our archive of Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy notices from 2021.

• Award amountsNot given on Grants.gov
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to any type of organization.

• Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is not seeking applications for financial assistance. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITTUE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

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Is this a realistic fit?

• Most of the program's money (43% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Request for Information (RFI): Steel Made via Emissions-Less Technologies (SMELT) This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is not soliciting application for financial assistance. The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future programs. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E-funded research program focused on novel technical approaches to produce iron metal (Fe) from iron-containing ores, which can create new technology pathways to enable future net-zero GHG emissions steelmaking at global scale. Global steel production – 1,700 million tonnes (Mt) of crude steel annually, of which 2/3 is primary production from ores and 1/3 is secondary scrap recycling2 – accounts for ~7% of world energy use (over 38 EJ) and ~7% of global GHG emissions4 (3.5 Gt CO2e). The most widespread primary steelmaking pathways are: (1) blast furnace ironmaking-basic oxygen furnace steelmaking (BF-BOF) which emits ~2.2 t CO2/t steel, and (2) natural gas direct reduced ironmaking-electric arc furnace (NG DRI-EAF) steelmaking, which emits ~1.4 t CO2/t steel. Annual domestic steel production (~80 Mt steel) accounts for ~4% of U.S. emissions and 2% of U.S. energy use; the remainder of annual U.S. steel demand (~43 Mt steel) is imported. Global steel production is expected to almost double, reaching ~2,500 Mt steel per year by 2050 as GDP per capita increases in developing nations. Despite steel’s role in achieving sustainable development goals, these increasing emissions must be abated to avoid the most disastrous effects of climate change. The most emissions-intensive stage in the value chain from ore to steel products is ironmaking (see ARPA-E Iron & Steel Webinar7 overview). There are no zero-emissions ironmaking technologies yet available at scale to replace these routes. Accordingly, this request for information (RFI) focuses on novel zero-emissions ironmaking processes with a credible future path toward enabling zero-emissions steelmaking at global scale (~2 Gt steel/yr). A dominant medium-term strategy toward this goal is to retrofit carbon capture systems (CCS) onto blast furnaces, which will increase the levelized cost of crude steel; the estimated premium is ~$130/t steel, as shown in Figure 1.

Category: Opportunity Zone Benefits, Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003630, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.