Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies | DE FOA 0001792

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001792

The Department of Energy (DOE), through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), released a discretionary funding opportunity called "Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001792) to push forward new approaches for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plants. The core purpose of the announcement is to support research, development, and validation work at bench scale that can materially change the cost and energy burden of CO2 capture for two major types of generation: pulverized coal-fired plants and natural gas-fired plants. The emphasis is not on small, incremental improvements, but on "step change" reductions, meaning breakthroughs that can shift the economics and performance of capture technologies in a meaningful way and help advance DOE's broader Carbon Capture Program goals.

The work funded under this opportunity is focused on transformational materials, processes, and enabling technologies. In practical terms, this typically includes things like new sorbents, solvents, membranes, catalysts, contactors, process intensification concepts, and supporting subsystems that make capture systems smaller, cheaper, more durable, or less energy-intensive. The phrase "enabling technologies" signals that DOE is also interested in components and integration ideas that may not be a full capture system on their own, but that remove key bottlenecks (for example, improvements that reduce pressure drop, improve heat integration, enhance mass transfer, lower regeneration energy, reduce corrosion, increase selectivity, or improve stability under real flue gas conditions). The goal is to validate these ideas at bench scale, which generally means moving beyond basic lab discovery into controlled experiments that demonstrate performance, repeatability, and credible potential for scaling.

Awards under this announcement were planned as cooperative agreements rather than standard grants. A cooperative agreement usually means DOE expects to be more actively involved during the project, with substantial federal participation in technical direction, milestones, reporting, and decision points. That structure is commonly used when an agency wants to guide development toward program objectives, ensure disciplined stage-gating, and manage technical risk, especially for technologies that are still emerging but are intended to transition toward pilot and demonstration efforts later.

In terms of funding parameters, the award ceiling listed for the opportunity was $3,000,000 per award, and DOE anticipated making about 14 awards. The opportunity was open to a wide range of applicants ("unrestricted"), meaning many entity types could apply, subject to any additional eligibility conditions stated in the full announcement text. This typically allows participation from universities, national laboratories, private companies, non-profits, and potentially state or local entities, which matters because carbon capture innovation often benefits from mixed teams that combine fundamental materials science, process engineering, and real-world operational experience.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on October 6, 2017, with an original closing date of November 22, 2017. It fell under the Energy funding activity category and was associated with CFDA number 81.089, aligning it with DOE energy-related assistance programs. Overall, the FOA can be read as DOE/NETL seeking bench-scale proof that novel capture concepts can substantially reduce both the cost of capturing CO2 and the energy penalty that capture systems impose on power plants, thereby helping make carbon capture more practical for widespread deployment in coal and natural gas power generation contexts.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies" 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 Oct 06, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 22, 2017. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 14 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0001792

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