Grants / Department of Energy / Golden Field Office

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

Open Closes December 1, 2026 (31 days left) Opportunity DE-FOA-0003647

• Award ceiling$20.0 million
• Award floor$2.0 million
• Expected awards10
• Total funding$58.0 million
• Cost sharingRequired
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

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Who can apply

This opportunity is open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses and individuals.

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Independent school districts
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• Individuals
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

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.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses, individuals.

Is this a realistic fit?

• The notice requires cost sharing or matching funds, so you must contribute part of the project cost.

What the grant funds

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 on-ramps for technologies at different stages of development.

Category: Energy.

How to apply

1. Read the full notice and attachments on Grants.gov. The notice is the official source for deadlines and requirements.
2. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID; registration can take several weeks.
3. Register on Grants.gov and submit through Workspace before the deadline and time given in the notice. Our application guide walks through each step.

Questions go to Golden Field Office, ASPECT@doe.gov, 2022871878.

Open the official notice