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Grants / Department of Energy / Golden Field Office

DE-FOA-0002540: RFI: Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Climate Technology

Closed Closed August 6, 2021 Opportunity DE-FOA-0002540

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT) (DE-FOA-0003647). Status: Closes December 1, 2026 (24 days left). It is in our archive of Golden Field Office notices from 2021.

Golden Field Office offered grants to any type of organization. Applications closed on August 6, 2021.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed June 10, 2021. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedJune 9, 2021
DeadlineAugust 6, 2021
Archived by Grants.govSeptember 5, 2021

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to any type of organization.

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Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to inform the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (ED) on enabling an inclusive and just entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem in climate and energy technologies. DOE seeks to understand the barriers to entry to DOE funding opportunities and other forms of assistance for first-time applicants, people and organizations from underrepresented communities, underserved and frontline communities, and from other non-traditional backgrounds, as well as understanding programmatic, operational, or other internal measures that DOE can implement to remove these barriers. Measures may encompass application support services for funding opportunities, incubation and acceleration services for entrepreneurship; and other measures to support a just and inclusive innovation ecosystem. This RFI is not aimed at policy recommendations that require changes in the law, but those that DOE can implement using its existing authorities.

Category: Energy.

Who has won Renewable Energy Research and Development grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Renewable Energy Research and Development (81.087) awarded $2.5 billion across 900 grant awards, an average of $2.8 million per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Oregon State UniversityOregon12$112 million
University of UtahUtah3$107 million
Avapco LLCGeorgia2$103 million
Plug Power Inc.New York4$75.7 million
General Motors LLCMichigan5$61.1 million

Top states: California ($331 million), New York ($226 million), Oregon ($211 million), Massachusetts ($170 million), Michigan ($166 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003647, which is open now.

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

Questions people ask

Is DE-FOA-0002540 still open?

No. It closed on August 6, 2021. A newer notice is open: DE-FOA-0003647, closes December 1, 2026 (24 days left).

Who can apply for RFI: Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Climate Technology?

Golden Field Office accepted applications from any type of organization.

What is the deadline for RFI: Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Climate Technology?

Closed August 6, 2021. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

Who has won Renewable Energy Research and Development grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Oregon State University, University of Utah, Avapco LLC. The program made 900 awards worth $2.5 billion in that time.

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