INSTRUCTIONS

All questions pertaining to this funding opportunity announcement should be emailed under the DE-FOA-0002638 - FY22 Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries and Greenhouse Gas
1 Reduction in First Generation Ethanol Production (Scale-Up+) submit questions link at FY22BETOScaleUp@ee.doe.gov.
2 All questions pertaining to EERE Exchange should be emailed to EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.
3 All questions and answers pertaining to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange within this spreadsheet.
4 DOE will attempt to respond to a question within 3 business days, unless a similar question and answer has already been posted in this spreadsheet.
5 All questions should be submitted not later than 3 business days prior to the application due date. Questions submitted after this date will not be answered.
6 Questions are assigned a number in accordance with when they are reviewed by DOE.
7 Questions are assigned a topic area by DOE when reviewed.

TIPS

1 Applicants may sort questions and answers in the question tabs of this spreadhseet by selecting the drop-down box arrow on the column headers and selecting any of the listed attributes.
2 Applicants may search for questions and/or keywords by holding CTRL+F on the keyboard and typing in a phrase or keyword.
 ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG
DE-FOA0002638 - FY22 Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries and Greenhouse Gas Reduction in First Generation Ethanol Production (Scale-Up+)
Question # Date Submitted Topic Question Answer

1 6/1/2022 Eligibility
While developing an application, it is important to make sure you meet all the requirements of the
FOA. If for some reason, you do not meet a requirement, but feel your proposal is strong and this
missing requirement will be met prior to the eventual selection of awards please include this in your
FAQ: We believe we have a strong application, but the timing of the FOA's release doesn't allow for us application and address it in your risk mitigation write-up.
to meet all of the requirements of the FOA at this time. Can we still apply?

2 6/1/2022 Application Content/Format
3 6/1/2022 Application Content/Format
FAQ: Can the fuels produced during the project be used for ASTM, RFS pathway approval, or other
regulatory approvals?
FAQ: Can we include fuel testing, engine testing, and/or onboard testing of fuels in the project?
Yes, the FOA volume requirements we designed with the intent to do just that. If your produced fuel
does not currently have regulatory approval per the Subtopic Area Specific Requirements sections, the
FOA requires the applicant to discuss how these regulatory approvals will be met.
Yes.

There is no requirement on how an applicant should present their data in the application. However, if
possible, design your application such that it follows the FOA requirements and sections in the same
order to make these complex projects and applications as easy as possible for the reviewers to follow
4 6/1/2022 Application Content/Format FAQ: What is the best way to present our project in an application? and review.

5 6/1/2022 Eligibility
FAQ: Our process and data is proprietary and we would like to simply include it as a "black box" with
process feeds and products without describing the process itself. Can we still apply?
The content that is included within an application is up to the applicant. However, if a reviewer is
unable to review a portion of (or the entirety of) the process being proposed the application will
receive low scores as the reviewers will be unable to support a higher score. Please note that all
reviewers sign Nondisclosure Agreement with the Department of Energy prior to viewing any
application materials.

6 6/1/2022 Technical Topics
Feedstock - If the waste paper fits into the definition of Sorted Municipal Solids Waste provided in
Appendix G - Acceptable Feedstocks of the FOA, then this would be an allowable feedstock. Please
note that recyclable paper is not an allowable feedstock.
Product - Topic Areas 1 - 3 require a sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable marine
Does the route of using waste paper and other cellulosic matter to produce ethanol qualify for funding fuel, and/or sustainable rail fuel (as defined in Appendix D - Glossary of the FOA). Ethanol would not
under this solicitation? qualify. Topic Area 4 does allow ethanol as a product, but all other requirements must be met.

7 6/2/2022 Labs/FFRDCs
8 6/2/2022 Due Dates
Given that FFRDC “subrecipients” will need to provide a “DOE Work Proposal” and “Authorization from
Cognizant Contracting Officer for the FFRDC”, please indicate whether they will need to additionally
provide a 1) Budget Justification Workbook, 2) Letter of Commitment, or 3) SF-LLL Form, similar to
other subrecipient entities? The budget justification, letter of commitment and SF-LLL are not required for FFRDC's.
Please note the submission deadlines for the corresponding Concept Paper at 7/8/22 5PM ET, and the
Full Application at 9/9/22 at 5PM ET per the cover page of the Funding Opportunity Announcement
I missed the deadline to submit a letter of intent for funding opportunity number: DE-FOA-0002638 (FOA) DE-EE0002638.

9 6/3/2022 Application Content/Format
Please see FOA section III.F. Limitations on Number of Concept Papers and Full Applications Eligible for
We are seeking clarification on the submission limits. The FOA states that for Subtopic Areas 2a, 2b, 3a Review. An entity may only submit one Concept Paper and Full Application to Subtopics 2a, 2b, 3a, or
and 3b, an entity may only submit one Concept Paper and one Full Application to this FOA. Does this 3b. The Applicant should determine which topic area best fits the application submission. “If an entity
mean it may submit only one Concept Paper/Full Application in total, across these four Subtopic submits more than one Concept Paper and Full Application, EERE will request a determination from the
Areas? Or is an entity permitted to submit one per Subtopic Area? Applicant’s authorizing representative as to which application should be reviewed.”

See FOA Section I.B. for areas of interest under this FOA and Topic Area specific guidance. Topic Areas
2 and 3 have phased award structures. Refer to the specific Topic Area 2 and 3 subtopic award
structure tables for additional guidance about phases. Applicants must include all phases as part of
10 6/3/2022 Application Content/Format Is a phase I-type proposal permitted? their application.

Per the Subtopic Area Specific Requirements sections of each topic area:
“Production of bioproducts is allowable as coproducts if essential for the overall economics of biofuel
production. However, of all the carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, at least 50% must be
in the biofuel(s).”
“Biofuels must demonstrate a reasonable chance of receiving ASTM International (ASTM) or other
regulatory approvals, as evidenced by substantial discussion in the narrative and inclusion of necessary
tasks in the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO).“
And as noted by the questioner, “The biofuels being produced by the proposed technology must be a
sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable marine fuel, and/or sustainable rail fuel.”
If the applicant meets these definitions, then a blendstock (as currently required for approved SAF
For Topic 1a, it should ‘Focus on the RD&D of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable pathways) would be allowable. Please note that the intent of the FOA is to further the future
marine fuel, or sustainable rail fuel.” What if we produce a product through biological route that can production of biofuels. As such, a hypothetical blendstock that could also be sold as a bioproduct
be used a bioblendstock for the fuels (for example, particularly as a bioblendstock for diesel) separately from a fuel may be eligible, the application may not receive top tier scores as the intent of
11 6/5/2022 Application Content/Format mentioned above? Would the research idea fit into Topic 1a? the FOA may not be fully realized with such a blendstock.

The FOA Subtopic Area 3a Specific Requirements (page 38) states that the “Scale-up factors per unit While developing an application, it is important to make sure you meet all the requirements of the
operation can be no greater than 20x”. For the last two years, we have been working with tremendous FOA. If for some reason, you do not meet a requirement, but feel your proposal is strong and this
success using predictive modeling and high-performance computing to lower scale-up risk, and believe missing requirement will be met prior to the eventual selection of awards (or in this case can be
that we are ready to scale up our process by a factor of 350x, going from pilot to first-of-a-kind small mitigated by modeling and past experience) please include this in your application and address it in
scale industrial facility. However, the limitation above does not allow us to present a proposal with this your risk mitigation write-up. If the reviewers feel as though the presented risk mitigation factors
higher escalation factor. Is it possible to remove that small escalation clause and allow us to make a sufficiently address the increased risk of not meeting a FOA requirement then your application will be
12 6/7/2022 Application Content/Format much bigger step towards technology commercialization? scored appropriately.

Feedstock: Per APPENDIX G - ACCEPTABLE FEEDSTOCKS Grain starch is an allowable feedstock, since
the ethanol is made from grain starch this would be allowable.
I have reviewed the FOA for the FY22 Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries and Greenhouse Gas Product: Per each Topic Area’s Subtopic Area ## Specific Requirements: Production of bioproducts is
Reduction in First Generation Ethanol Production to assess whether my company might qualify. Our allowable as coproducts if essential for the overall economics of biofuel production. However, of all the
company produces Ethyl Acetate (a chemical) through a catalytic process using only corn ethanol as its carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, at least 50% must be in the biofuel(s).
feedstock. The corn ethanol is produced by third parties – so that is a procured input for us. We have
other technologies in process to use corn ethanol to produce other renewable chemicals, but those Topic Area 4: Topic Area 4 will analyze or demonstrate strategies to lower GHG emissions and Carbon
are just in the development stage. I understand that renewable chemicals are within the scope of Intensity (CI) within existing the Gen-1 corn ethanol industry such as low-carbon agricultural practices,
BETO, however based on my initial review of the FOA it does not appear that our current projects switching to renewable process heat and power (i.e., renewable natural gas, or biomass), utilization of
would qualify for this particular FOA as the allowable feedstocks listed in Appendix G don’t appear to process produced CO2, and new productivity or conversion efficiency measures in ethanol facilities. If
include corn ethanol and the allowable primary products appear to target liquid fuels (and not you feel your process will achieve the minimum GHG reductions as listed in the FOA your process may
13 6/8/2022 Technical Topics renewable chemicals). be eligible.

I’m a freelance grant writer working with a client that produces biodiesel and other products. Does the Topic Area 4 of the FOA is intended for First Generation Ethanol Production applications, as stated in
FOA issued June 1 apply only to companies producing ethanol? The FOA language does not indicate the FOA title. Please note that section I.D. of the FOA lists the types of applications that will not be
that, but then the title does. We have been assuming biodiesel and other products would make the reviewed or considering for any Topic Area (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes "Applications that propose the
14 6/8/2022 Technical Topics company eligible, but I figured it would be a good idea to check for sure. production of biodiesel."

We are looking at submitting one or more applications and have a few questions/points for
clarification:
1. Under Topics 3a/3b the minimum GHG reduction is listed at 50% with no other restrictions listed, 1. The minimum required GHG reduction for Topic Area 3a/3b is 50% regardless of feedstock.
but in Appendix G the Grain Starch paragraph lists a minimum of 70% reduction. Does use of grain 2. See Appendix A Cost Share Information for guidance pertaining to cost share. Use of recipient-
starch under Topics 3a/3b require 70% reduction or only 50%? owned equipment is allowable to meet cost share provided the equipment was not purchased with
2. We would incorporate some use of equipment currently owned by the company. Other than what is federal funds. See FOA Section IV.J.vi. Equipment and Supplies regarding Funding Restrictions
outlined in the FOA, are there any specific restrictions on the use of those assets as in-kind applicable to equipment.
contributions to the cost-share? 3. The minimum throughput for Topic Area 3 (demonstration) applications is 1,000,000 gallons / year.
3. We have 100,000 gpy existing capacity and finished plans for additional pilot capacity to produce Please note that Topic Area 2 (pilots) has a minimum of 20,000 gallons / year so this would qualify for
770,000 gal/yr hydrocarbon fuels from alcohols, and the Topic 3b has a minimum requirement of that topic area.
1,000,000 gal/yr. Is the 1,000,000 gal/yr an absolute minimum, and would an application at the 4. Feedstocks other than corn ethanol are allowed as long as the resultant technology reduces the CI
870,000 gal/yr volume be automatically disqualified? score of the produced ethanol by the minimum amount listed in the topic area. Similarly, products
4. Section 4a/4b are titles “Corn Ethanol” but list multiple feedstocks. Are feedstocks other than corn other than ethanol are allowed as long as the resultant technology reduces the CI score of the
15 6/8/2022 Technical Topics actually allowed, and are any products other than ethanol allowed? produced ethanol by the minimum amount listed in the topic area.

For Topic Areas 2 and 3, throughput equivalence is referring to the annual nameplate capacity of the
facility. The FOA is taking into account the fact that pilot and demonstration facilities might run in
campaigns rather than a continuous fashion for a full year. For example, a facility that was designed
Can you please clarify what is meant by “1,000,000 gallons of biofuel per year equivalent”? Is the and sized with a nameplate capacity of 2,857 gallons per day (equivalent to 1,000,000 gallons annual
“equivalent” distinction simply to point out the operation would not actually last for a year or more? throughput with 350 days of operation) would be eligible for Topic Area 3, if this facility only ran for
Given a typical 350 operating days per year basis, I would take this to mean a daily production rate of 1,000 continuous hours (the minimum continuous run for Topic Area 3). In this scenario the facility
16 6/8/2022 Technical Topics 2857 gal. would be designed to produce roughly 120,000 gallons of fuel during this hypothetical 1,000 hour run.

1. We understand that Topic 2 is focused on the production of Renewable Liquid Fuels for Aviation,
Marine and Rail transportation. Would it be acceptable if our proposed Biorefinery produces a
Renewable Liquid Fuel that can be converted (on-board) to Hydrogen for on-board Fuel Cell powered
systems for Aviation, Marine, Rail and/or Long-Haul Trucking (see Question 2 below)? We understand,
of course, that such applications would need to meet regulatory requirements and standards for those 1. If the produced product can be used as a Renewable Liquid (at STP) Fuel for the aviation, marine, rail,
applications. or long-haul trucking prior to being converted to hydrogen, then yes that would be allowable.
2. In the last sentence of the first paragraph on page 23 of the FOA, renewable fuels for “Long-Haul However, if the liquid organic hydrogen carrier would not be a fuel on its own then it would not be
Trucking” is mentioned as a Topic 2 fuel application. But, “Long-Haul Trucking” is not listed in "Table eligible.
5: Topic Area 2 Minimum Requirements" as a “Fuel Type”. Table 5 does, however, include Renewable 2. Yes, Topic Area 2 allows for Long-Haul Trucking fuels as a primary product.
Diesel (as defined in the Glossary) as a target “Fuel Type”. Does Topic 2 include Renewable Fuels for 3. Depending on the strength of applications, none, some, or all funding may be directed to a single
“Long-Haul Trucking”? subtopic. In the case of Subtopic Areas 2a and 3a, only Phase 1 funds will be obligated at time of initial
3. For Topic 2a, the FOA states that Phase 2 funding would, inter alia, be “subject to the availability of award. Phase 2 funds may be obligated with future appropriated funds as made available by legislation
future year appropriations.” To confirm, does this mean there are no funds available for Phase 2 and executive signature. Additionally, please note that upon completion of the competitive project
projects within DOE’s currently available appropriated funds, and that any such funds would have to review (down-selection process), EERE will select which projects will receive federal funding beyond
be made available to DOE in future appropriation legislation passed by Congress and signed by the Phase 1. Due to the availability of funding and program considerations, only a portion of the recipients
President? will be selected to receive funding for project continuation. As a result of this down-select process,
4. Does DOE have a sample template for an Articles of Collaboration agreement for an unincorporated certain projects will not receive federal funding beyond Phase 1 even if the project is meeting the pre-
consortium? defined metrics.
5. The FOA states: “Applications cannot include greater than 10% of the total project budget for 4. EERE does not have an established template for this type of agreement.
earlier stage R&D”. Can you provide more explanation of this? Does that apply only to “earlier stage 5. As specified in FOA section I.B Topic Areas, applications cannot include greater than 10% of the
R&D” performed post-award, or can the project budget include reimbursement for up to 10% for project budget for early stage R&D. Activities performed pre-application and selection are not eligible
17 6/9/2022 Technical Topics “earlier stage R&D” performed pre-application? for reimbursement.
1. As specified in FOA I.B.vi, subsection Area 2a Additional Financial Requirements, a contingency
reserve is required for all Phase 2 activities. Furthermore, the continuation application requirements as
referenced in Section VI.B.xiv must indicate that the Recipient has access to at least a minimum of 25%
required contingency. As specified in FOA Appendix I, “The continuation application for Phase 2 must
include documentation showing that the Recipient has access to the minimum 25% required
contingency. Contingency funds must be: (a) liquid, (b) immediately available, and (c) unrestricted
funds dedicated exclusively to the project for the purpose of mitigating project performance baseline
risk. The contingency reserve is in addition to Total Project Costs and cannot count towards cost share,
until expended. If expended, the contingency will not result in reimbursement by DOE above the total
federal share approved in the award. DOE discourages recipients from reducing scope to comply with
the contingency reserve requirement.” Contingency funds may include, but are not be limited to, cash
on hand, stocks, bonds, and other liquid assets. The Applicant should select the appropriate
mechanism that meets these requirements. Please note, Contracting Officer determination will be
made on a case-by-case basis on the acceptability of the proposed contingency mechanism.
2. A variety of approved feedstocks can be used to meet the time on stream requirements if the full
system is being utilized. For example, a process that can use both corn stover or wheat straw would
use roughly the same preprocessing steps with some minor changes and this would be allowable.
However, if the proposed process could use an agricultural residue (with the preprocessing train is part
of the project) or it could use a grain starch (that would not require the preprocessing train to be
utilized) the combination of the two would not be allowable and the agricultural residue along with its
preprocessing train would have to be run for the Cumulative Time on Stream and Continuous Time on
Stream separately from the grain starch. 3. See answer for question 16.

1. We understand that the required Contingency funds must be: " (a) liquid, (b) immediately available,
and (c) unrestricted funds dedicated exclusively to the project . . .." Can you provide examples of what
mechanisms are allowable to satisfy that requirement? For example, is an Irrevocable Standby Letter
of Credit acceptable?
2. Our integrated technology system that we would propose for either Topic 2a or Topic 2b can
convert more than one of the Allowable Feedstocks specified for Topic 2. We can process each of
those Feedstocks either individually or commingled. Would we need to demonstrate the performance
criteria (Cumulative Time on Stream and Continuous Time on Stream) for each of the Feedstocks?
3. Our integrated technology system that we would propose for either Topic 2a or Topic 2b can
produce multiple target Fuel Types for Topic 2 . Would we need to produce "Throughput Equivalent of
20,000 gallons of biofuel per year equivalent" for each of the Fuel Types we can produce? We
18 6/10/2022 Technical Topics recognize, of course, that each Fuel Type is subject to standards and regulations.

The shape of our project team is changing as we polish our proposal concept, so I am wondering if any
information is binding between submission of a “Scale-Up” Concept Paper and a Full Application? In
other words, are the Applicant Organization; Project Title; Federal/Cost Share ($), or any other Yes, the applicant organization, project title, federal/cost share amounts and webform answers may
webform answers provided at time of concept paper submission obligated to remain the same at time change between the concept paper submission and full application; however please note - the control
19 6/12/2022 Technical Topics of full application submission? # must remain the same between stages.
No, DME is not an allowable product under this FOA. Per section I.D. Applications Specifically Not of
For Topic Area 2, will Dimethyl Ether (DME) qualify as a liquid biobased hydrocarbon fuel for marine, Interest, "Applications whose primary biofuel stream(s) are not a liquid at standard temperature and
20 6/12/2022 Technical Topics rail, and/or long-haul trucking applications? pressure (STP)” are not of interest.

1. Are Brewer’s Spent Grains, Distillers Spent Grains (e.g. distillery waste stillage), and/or Sugar Beet
Pulp “Allowable Feedstocks” for Topic 2?
2. For Subtopic Area 2a projects, it appears that the intent is that each of the Bullet and Sub-bullet
items listed in Appendix I “PRELIMINARY Design Requirements” are to be addressed and satisified
during the Phase 1 period. Is that is correct? Do the Bulleted and Sub-bulleted Pro-Forma Cash Flow
anaysis and Business Plan requirements apply to the Pilot Scale facility to be built in Phase 2 (if
selected and funded) or to an assumed future full-scale commercial plant? Q1: The listed feedstocks would be allowable as they fall under the definition of lignocellulosic
feedstocks as provided in Appendix G.
3. Obviously, most any IBR Pilot Scale facility funded under this FOA will contain intellectual
property, proprietary equipment, and processes. The FOA states: "Property disposition will be Q2a: This is correct. Per Appendix I - PRELIMINARRY Design Requirements for projects selected under
required at the end of a project if the current fair market value of property exceeds $5,000. For-profit Subtopic Area 2a and Subtopic Area 3a to move from Phase 1 (Verification & Design Basis Definition)
entity disposition requirements are set forth at 2 CFR 910.360.” To briefly paraphrase those into Phase 2 (Design, Construction, Operation) and projects selected under Subtopic Area 2b and 3b to
“Disposition” regulations, if a project is funded under Subtopic Area 2b, for example, at the end of the move out of Budget Period 1 (Verification of Design Package) into Budget Period 2 (Project Execution -
project the funding recipient must elect to either (a) keep its equipment and pay the federal complete final design and construction), key deliverables must be provided to EERE for review in order
government for the percentage of the current fair market value of the equipment that is attributable to show project readiness prior to moving into Phase 2. These deliverables include, but are not limited
to the federal participation in the project, or (b) sell the equipment (which, of course includes to those indicated in Appendix I.
proprietary equipment and processes) to a 3rd party (in a manner to maximize the sale price), and
from those proceeds, pay the federal government for the percentage of the current fair market value Q2b: The pro-forma and business plan should related to a future full-scale, commercial facility.
of the equipment that is attributable to the federal participation in the project. Presumably, some
funding recipients are not gong to want to have their proprietary equipment and systems sold to one Q3: Please see disposition requirements set forth by 2CFR 910.360. If the prime recipient elects to
or more 3rd parties. Thus, is it correct that they would then have to pay the federal government if continue ownership with select pieces of equipment, the disposition requirement will apply to all
21 6/12/2022 Technical Topics they wanted to keep their equipment that was funded under the FOA? equipment greater than or equal to $5,000 at the time of disposition.

No, there is no outline for the concept paper. Please see section IV.C of the FOA for more information
22 6/12/2022 Application Content/Format Is there a particular outline for the concept paper you can share? on the content and form of the Concept Paper and relative requirements

Yes, preliminary LCA and TEA data should be presented in the application in order to show the
potential of the proposed process. The manner in which the data is presented is up to the applicant.
Per the Subtopic Area 2a Specific Requirements section "Applications must contain techno-economic
and life cycle analyses (TEA and LCA) that relate the key technical parameters of the proposed
technology described in the proposal application to achieving a cost competitive MFSP and GHG
Subtopic Area 2a applicants, must have "all relevant prior scale data and are ready to design a biofuels reduction targets. Previously achieved values, scales, and durations should be delineated from the
pilot facility” but, unlike Subtopic Area 2b applicants, do not yet have a final pilot scale design. It values necessary to meet the targeted MFSP so that the level of technology advancement needed is
appears, however, that Subtopic Area 2a applicants are still required to submit a complete TEA and a clear." More refined LCAs and TEA will be developed during Phase 1 of Subtopic Area 2a projects as
23 6/12/2022 Technical Topics full LCA in their initial applications, even though they do not yet have a final design. Is that correct? needed in order to meet the preliminary design requirements as listed in Appendix I.

As regards the Topic Area 2 requirement of 500 hours "Continuous Time on Stream,” it is possible that
the final design for one of the components of our IBR will be for campaigns of discrete 14 days (24
hours per day), then a pause, then another 14 day campaign, then a pause, etc. This component will For the purposes of this FOA, Continuous Time on Stream is defined as the time spent operating the
have no problem meeting the minimum “Cumulative Time On Stream” of 1,000 hours. Can you entire facility as designed (including recycle streams) on real (non-mock or synthetic) feedstocks, at
provide a definition of “Continuous Time on Stream”? Is an operating campaign that includes a period steady state without operational disruptions to produce the intended product slate. Therefore,
of operation followed by a scheduled pause, followed by a period of operation followed by a facilities that are designed for campaigns of 14 days (336 continuous hours) would not meet the
24 6/13/2022 Technical Topics scheduled pause, etc. fit within the intent of the “Continuous Time on Stream” requirement? requirement of the FOA.
I wanted to check if a cellulosic ethanol technology backended by one of the several ethanol to jet In this scenario the process would use an allowable feedstock (cellulosic feedstock) and would produce
technologies currently being deployed would be considered responsive under Topic Areas 1 and 2 of an allowable biofuel (SAF), therefore this would be an allowable process. Please note that all other
25 6/14/2022 Technical Topics this FOA. requirements would need to be met.

The FOA states “Subtopic Area 2b and Subtopic Area 3b must identify technology providers for each
major unit operation found in the Block Flow Diagram; if that technology provider is not the prime
recipient, it should be listed as a subrecipient in the project budget to minimize scale-up risk and
maximize engagement.” Some unit operations are commercial, for example distillation columns. Major and/or unique technology providers should be identified for Subtopic Areas 2b and 3b as these
Choice of final vendors typically comes later in the process. For such unit operations may we name are shovel or near shovel ready applications. If for some reason, you do not meet this requirement, but
potential technology providers but make final vendor selection later? In doing so the final vendor feel your proposal is strong and this missing requirement will be met prior to the eventual selection of
26 6/14/2022 Technical Topics would not be listed as a subrecipient in the project budget. awards please include this in your application and address it in your risk mitigation write-up.
Might the webinar recording be available online afterwards for those of us that are struggling to be
27 6/15/2022 Webinar able to join live? Yes, a recording and transcript of the webinar has been posted to the EERE Exchange website.

Wondering if brown grease qualifies as a feedstock under the “organic wet waste” feedstock group or
28 6/15/2022 Technical Topics the “food waste” feedstock group or is not an acceptable feedstock? Yes, brown grease is an allowable feedstock.
I am looking for the webinar transcript on the eere-exchange website but cannot find it yet. Do you
29 6/15/2022 Webinar know when and where it will be posted? The Webinar Slides are available on the EERE Exchange website under the DE-FOA-0002638 listing.

Applicants to Topic Area 1 are welcome to submit a proposal related to only the material feeding
system for high-pressure reactors. The proposed unit operation(s) within an application do not have to
comprise a fully integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized
to support future integration of the entire process at pilot or demonstration scale. Applicants to Topic
Area 1 will be required to demonstrate proof of technology success at the laboratory scale and provide
a market justification for further system scaling.
In addition, applicants to this FOA should further the development of technologies for biofuels and
is it acceptable for this FOA to submit an application for RD&D related to only the material feeding bioproducts that address BETO’s goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions with an eye toward
system for high-pressure reactors. In other words, is it acceptable that the proposed project does not mitigating project risk and enabling future industrial deployment. Applications that include industrial
include any bio-refinery or reactor, but rather focuses on reliable delivery of feedstock to a general collaboration and partnerships for all aspects of the proposed process from feed to fuel production are
30 6/15/2022 Technical Topics high-pressure environment, similar to biorefinery reactors? encouraged.

Please see FOA Section IV.D. xiv, J.iii.3, and further details in Appendix C. Applicants may submit a
May a waiver be obtained for Subtopic Area 2b to produce the fuel in a non-US, North American foreign work waiver as applicable. This document is an optional submission to the full application
31 6/15/2022 Foreign Entities/Work facility, given that the capabilities do not exist in the US? submission files section of the EERE Exchange submission form.

We understand that one of the Subtopic Area 2a specific requirements is that scale-up factors per unit
operation can be no greater than 50x. With that in mind, is it possible to include more than one unit If a unit operation is scaled greater than 50x the applicant should provide a technical justification for
32 6/15/2022 Technical Topics scaled-up by up to 50x if the overall integrated biorefinery design basis requires that? the feasibility of this scaling factor and address potential risks and risk mitigation approaches.
 Correct, in topic area 1a the proposed work does not have to comprise a fully integrated process but
rather can focus on one, or a few, process units. Applicants to Topic 1a must prove that this work can
be utilized to support future integration of the entire process at pilot or demonstration scale and will
Reading Subtopic 1a, it appears that a proposal which pre-pilots one or a few key unit operation(s) in be required to demonstrate proof of technology success at the laboratory scale and provide a market
the chain from biomass to aviation fuel would be considered responsive, as long as it is clear from the justification for further system scaling. Applications that include industrial collaboration and
application (and associated TEA) how it fits in, and is critical to the process. Do I understand this partnerships for all aspects of the proposed process from feed to fuel production are encouraged.
correctly? Aviation fuel does not have to be produced if it is clear how the data generated ties into the
33 6/15/2022 Technical Topics production of aviation fuel?

Under this FOA, is Methanol an acceptable Fuel for Marine applications? Rail applications? Long- Sustainable fuel for marine, aviation, or rail and renewable diesel must meet the definitions provided in
Distance Trucking applications? And yes, we understand we would need to address the Appendix D of the FOA. Methanol is an acceptable marine fuel as long as all other requirements of the
34 6/16/2022 Technical Topics regulatory/standards for approval of Methanol in those applications. FOA are met.

I request clarification of the portion of this definition in the {{}} brackets. Is the exclusion for any other
fuel produced currently that comes from oil-seed, animal fats, or other non-waste bio-feed stocks? Or
does this also exclude waste derived methanol and Fischer-Tropsch diesel, which are both
commercially produced marine fuels?
Appendix D - Glossary
“Sustainable Marine Fuel” for the purposes of this FOA, is defined as a renewable or waste derived
fuel that achieves net greenhouse gas emissions reductions of at least 70% on a life cycle basis when
compared to Heavy Fuel Oil as defined by ASTM D396. Please note that this FOA will exclude The intent of the FOA is to provide funding to help commercialize technologies by increasing a
biodiesels, straight vegetable oil, and {{any other commercially produced fuel as sustainable marine particular technology's TRL. If a technology is fully (feedstock to product) commercial it is not of
fuels}}. Applicant must address the scalability of the proposed sustainable marine fuel in their interest. It is up to the applicant to determine and present data justifying the allowability of a
35 6/16/2022 Technical Topics application. particular process.

What is the required cost share amount for subject FOA, Topic Area 2a, Phase 2. Page 24 states, “A
minimum of 50% cost share is required for Phase 1.” There is no language in the paragraph regarding
Phase 2 cost share. Page 25 states, “Applications should consider Phase 2 (Final Design, Construction,
Operation) projects on the order of $15,000,000 of federal funds plus a minimum of 50% Applicant
cost-share when developing the Phase 1 proposal in their applications.” Page 62 states, “Subtopic Per FOA section I.B.vi under Subtopic 2a, "Applications should consider Phase 2 (Final Design,
Areas 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b: The cost share must be at least 50% of the total allowable costs for Construction, Operation) projects on the order of $15,000,000 of federal funds plus a minimum of 50%
demonstration projects….” Finally, the chart on page63 states 50% cost share for 2a (there is no Phase Applicant cost-share when developing the Phase 1 proposal in their applications." Subtopic 2a Phase 2
36 6/16/2022 Cost Sharing 1/Phase 2 breakout). cost share is 50%.

A specific FFRDC budget limitation has not been provided as in previous years of less than 50% of the
total budget/effort. How should we interpret page 68 of the FOA, “Limit on FFRDC effort - The scope of
work to be performed by the FFRDC may not be more significant than the scope of work to be
performed by the applicant”? If a Prime’s contribution is 20% with a budget of 20% of the total cost,
must a contributing FFRDC limit its budget/contribution to 20% or less? If multiple FFRDC’s are You are correct, the total FFRDC effort must not exceed that of the prime applicant, as noted in section
contributing to a proposal, must the sum of their contributions/budget be less than or equal to that of III.E.i of the FOA. If multiple FFRDC's are contributing to a proposal, the sum of their contributions must
37 6/17/2022 Labs/FFRDCs the Prime’s? be less than or equal to that of the prime's.
EERE staff are prohibited from answering questions outside the stated Q &A process, all questions must
38 6/18/2022 Other Would it be possible to set up a time to discuss the opportunity and potential fit of our application? be submitted via the FY22BETOScaleUp@ee.doe.gov mailbox.
Webinar slides have been uploaded to the EERE Exchange site under the FOA listing, a webinar
39 6/21/2022 Webinar Is there a link provided for the training that was held on June 15th? transcript and recording have also been posted on the EERE Exchange site.

Please see FOA Section VI.B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements for the Registration
Requirements and Award Administrative Requirements for this FOA. Applicants are required to have an
I know that SAM, EERE exchange and grants.gov registrations are required before submitting to a FOA. active registration in SAM (with correspondeing UEI number) prior to submitting a Full Application
40 6/21/2022 Registration Requirements However, are any of these required for a concept paper submission? Submission to this FOA. This step is not required prior to submitting a Concept Paper.
No. An application may not be submitted on behalf of the intended Prime Applicant by a proposed Sub-
May a sub-applicant register and submit a Concept Paper and Full Application on the EERE, on behalf applicant. The Prime Applicant must be an eligible applicant as described in FOA Section III.A. Eligible
41 6/21/2022 Other of the lead applicant? Applicants.

Does section I-D “Applications Specifically Not of Interest” apply to Topic 4 applicants (1st Gen Corn
ethanol)? When we read this in context of an existing corn ethanol plant that is looking at several
different options under Topic 4 (1st Gen ethanol), we are seeking some clarification. In Section I-D,
there are several types of applications listed that are not of interest. As it relates to an existing Corn
ethanol plant under Topic 4, someone reading this may take away that a traditional 1st Gen corn
ethanol plant that is lowering their carbon intensity through new technologies may not qualify if
ethanol is still the primary biofuel product. For example, Section I-D in bullets says biofuel product
must be liquid, destined for non-gasoline markets (trains, planes, boats, trucking), and not Section I.D Applications Specifically Not of Interest includes a bullet “Applications whose primary fuel
biopower/heat as primary product. Does an ethanol plant generating renewable gas or power, or product is not intended for aviation, long-haul trucking, marine, or rail usage” This would disallow
using other technologies to drive down Carbon intensity – and producing ethanol as its primary biofuel ethanol production from all topic areas, including Topic Area 4, which is not the intent of Topic Area 4.
42 6/21/2022 Technical Topics product qualify under Topic 4, or does Section I-D limit those types of applications? Ethanol is an allowable product for Topic Area 4 only. We will be revising the FOA accordingly.

1) Does the verification/validation data for Topic Area 2a need to be from all steps/reactions working
together at the correct size? Or can come from different runs of each piece of equipment or reactor
independently, assuming the conversion process has multiple steps?
2) In order to apply for pilot scale, do you need data from exactly 35 gal/day for 100 hours (500 total)? reviewers that the process is ready to be fully integrated and scaled to the topic area 2b throughput
43 6/22/2022 Technical Topics Or just data that supports that equivalent ability?
1) The end product of topic area 2 is a fully integrated pilot scale facility. The verification data for topic
area 2a does not (and would likely not) have to come from a fully integrated pilot process. The
verification data can come from runs on individual pieces of equipment at appropriate and justifiable
bench or pre-pilot scale.
2) The verification data for pilot scale does not have to be from exactly 35 gal/day for 100 hours (500
total), however, data will have to prove sufficient throughput and run time to justify to the merit
and run time specifications.

1) The FOA says “of all the carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, at least 50% must be in
the biofuel.” If carbon dioxide generated from the process is captured, is it considered a coproduct? 1) Captured carbon dioxide is not considered a coproduct. If it is upgraded to fuels and chemicals,
those would be considered coproducts.
2) If roughly 60% of biomass-based biogenic carbon exists in sugars, fermenting those sugars into
ethanol means only 30% of the biogenic carbon becomes fuel (and 30% becomes CO2). Does this
mean the lignin in the feedstock must also be converted into fuel to raise the total biogenic carbon 2) The lignin stream would be considered a waste stream. If you upgrade the lignin stream to fuels and
44 6/22/2022 Technical Topics percentage above 50%? Or is the lignin considered the only coproduct in this case? chemicals, those would be considered coproducts.

If Project 2 is located at the same physical site as Project 1 but is a separate biorefinery that has not
previously received federal funding under § 932 of EPAct 2005, it will be considered a separate “single
biorefinery demonstration” for purposes of the $100 million funding limitation of § 932. If Project 2
intends to use or otherwise benefit from Project 1 assets that were federally funded under § 932, a
If a biorefinery demonstration project (Project 1) has previously been federally funded under § 932 of DOE case-by-case evaluation would be required to determine whether such use could be included as
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), and a different biorefinery located on or near the same part of the Project 2 project cost and/or cost share. Note: if Project 1 assets, including property and
property (Project 2) wants to apply to this FOA, is Project 2 considered part of the same “single equipment, have gone through DOE’s property disposition process and Project 1 has compensated DOE
biorefinery demonstration project” for purposes of the $100 million federal funding limitation for DOE’s fair market interest in the assets, there would likely be no restriction on Project 2’s use of
provided in § 932? Would Project 2 be permitted to use assets of the Project 1 facility to benefit the those assets; a DOE determination would, however, still be required to determine how and whether
45 6/23/2022 Other proposed demonstration under Project 2? the use of those assets could be included as Project 2 project costs and/or cost share.

Please see FOA Section IV.J.ii Pre-Award Costs. Pre-award costs are those incurred prior to the effective
date of the federal award directly pursuant to the negotiation and in anticipation of the federal award
where such costs are necessary for efficient and timely performance of the scope of work. Such costs
are allowable only to the extent that they would have been allowable if incurred after the date of the
For Topic 2a, if we win an award in November but the grant doesn't start until March 2023, are we federal award and only with the written approval of the federal awarding agency, through the
able to retroactively charge to the grant for plant design work that we complete prior to the grant Contracting Officer assigned to the award. Pre-award costs cannot be incurred prior to the Selection
46 6/23/2022 Other start date? Either prior to November or prior to March? Official signing the Selection Statement and Analysis.
Is the application dependent on it being in a first generation ethanol plant or is that an additional area It is up to the applicant to determine their eligibility. Per Appendix G, oil seed crops are allowable as
47 6/23/222 Technical Topics you are looking to promote? feedstocks for all topic areas except for Subtopic Area 1b.

The glossary in Appendix D defines Sustainable Marine Fuel, "as a renewable or waste derived fuel
that achieves net greenhouse gas emissions reductions of at least 70% on a life cycle basis when
compared to Heavy Fuel Oil as defined by ASTM D396,” but explicitly excludes, "biodiesels, straight
vegetable oil, and any other commercially produced fuel as sustainable marine fuels."
Is the exclusion of straight vegetable oils meant to target edible oils to avoid food versus fuel issues?
Would a non-edible vegetable oil (e.g, a non-edible pure plant oil from the list of "Oilseed Crops" that This exclusion is due to the fact that these fuels are commercially available. If a particular feedstock is
are otherwise eligible feedstocks per Appendix G) be acceptable as a Sustainable Marine Fuel under eligible under Appendix G and the fuel is currently not commercially available then this would be
48 6/23/2022 Technical Topics Topics 1, 2, and 3, particularly if it is not commercially produced as a sustainable marine fuel? allowable assuming all other requirements of the FOA have been met.

As stated in the FOA section I.A.i, the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is providing specific
Congressionally-authorized and -appropriated funding in this FOA to assist in the development of
technologies to convert biomass and biomass-based wastes to biofuels and bioproducts. As stated in
section I.A.ii, a specific technology space BETO is providing funding for is the use of direct air capture of
Appendix G indicates that both “Waste Carbon Dioxide” and “Carbon Dioxide from Ambient Air” are CO2 from ambient air in algal systems to produce algal biomass. While all biomass-based feedstocks
acceptable feedstocks. However, Appendix D requires that Waste Carbon Dioxide, must be "produced use CO2 from the air to grow via photosynthesis, there are specific challenges and opportunities
as a byproduct from fermentation or the combustion of biomass or other biopower processes. discussed in the FOA Topic 1B related to algal systems that are of interest in this FOA. The direct
conversion of CO2 to biofuels and bioproducts is only allowable within this FOA if the CO2 is a “waste
Recognizing that Carbon Dioxide from Ambient Air is not traceable to a biogenic source and is CO2” from a biogenic source, as stated in Appendix G. The use of biomass feedstocks which may be
allowable as an eligible feedstock, why is Waste Carbon Dioxide restricted in this way, and shouldn’t it grown utilizing inputs of concentrated sources of CO2 other than “waste CO2”, such as algae grown
be treated similarly? Would the use of waste CO2 from point source carbon capture (e.g., from a SMR using fossil-derived flue gas, is allowable in Topics 1A, 2, and 3 provided that the envisioned system and
used to produce hydrogen for an integrated biorefinery) be an acceptable feedstock to produce rail, products meet the other requirements of the Topic, such as but not limited to the life-cycle assessment
49 6/23/2022 Technical Topics marine, or aviation fuels under topics 1, 2, or 3? (LCA) requirements for 70% reduction in GHG emissions.

I would like to inquire about the webinar from 6/15/2022 for the BETO ScaleUP FOA. I see the link for
the actual slides from the webinar but wondered if the live recording will be made available to us as
50 6/23/2022 Webinar well? If so, can you direct me to where to the find the recording? A link to the webinar recording and transcript have been posted to the EERE Exchange site.

51 6/24/2022 Technical Topics Does CO2 from a landfill count as a waste CO2 source for Topic 2? Yes, for all topic areas other than 1b. Please see the definition and allowability of biogas in Appendix G.

Please clarify how funding is to be handled for Subtopic Areas 2a and 2b. Specifically, see the bottom
of page 22 where it talks about Topic Area 2 that is broken into two subtopics, Subtopic Area 2a and
Subtopic Area 2b. Also, in Appendix 1.
Our question is if we submit a proposal under Subtopic 2a to model and simulate our process using
predictive modeling and high-performance computing, verify the model (using our own existing 6-tpd
plant), and use the simulation results to tweak our process and create an engineering design package
to build much larger plants (and complete all aspects of the 2a project successfully as judged by DOE),
will we then be automatically considered for down-selection and Subtopic 2b funding to actually build
the scaled up plant without going through another FOA?
Or does it mean that we would have to submit a project under Subtopic Area 2a and, then following A successful Phase 1 application will be automatically considered for a phase 2 award under this FOA’s
project completion and DOE verification, later submit a proposal under a future FOA in order to obtain down-select process (see section VI.C Program Down-Select). If a project is unsuccessful at obtaining
52 6/24/2022 Other funding to build a scaleup plant? funding through this down-select process, they may be able to apply for potential future FOAs.

Sub-topic 2a under this FOA consists of phase 1 (12 months) and phase 2 (42-48months) with 50% cost
share required for each phase. For a TA2a project does the applicant need to have the entire cost
share (Phase 1 and Phase 2) lined-up/confirmed or only the cost share for Phase 1 at the time of full
application submission? Phase 2 is worded slightly different than Phase 1 and in such a way that it is
not clear if Phase 2 needs to be completely cost share supported at time of full application.
Specifically, “applicants should consider . . . when developing the Phase 1 proposal in their
applications.” Any clarity on this language would greatly be appreciated.
Page 24
Phase 1 will consist of an extended 12 month Verification & Design Basis Definition phase to verify
prior scale data and readiness to proceed. Up to $2,000,000 of federal funds will be made available for
each Phase 1 project. A minimum of 50% cost share is required for Phase 1.
Page 25 No, Phase 2 cost share is not required to be confirmed at the time of the initial application, however
Applications should consider Phase 2 (Final Design, Construction, Operation) projects on the order of will be required when submitting a continuation application at the end of Phase 1. Potential applicants,
$15,000,000 of federal funds plus a minimum of 50% Applicant cost-share when developing the Phase should, however note the anticipated Phase 2 funding amounts and cost share percentage per the
53 6/24/2022 Cost Sharing 1 proposal in their applications. FOA, when developing their Phase 1 applications.

1. What does BETO stand for?

2. I signed up for a Login.gov, Grants.gov accounts with a role of “data entry” that the client has 1) BETO is the Bioenergy Technology Office of the Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and
been notified of; and checked they have an active S.A.M. registration with a UEI number (formerly Renewable Energy.
DUNS number) and Cage Code; and found the EERE grant opportunity and was able to fill out the
online concept paper application – BUT am concerned that I won’t be able to submit unless given
permission by the client to be an “administrator” through S.A.M. to apply for them. Do I need this 2) Please see answer #41 above, an application may not be submitted on behalf of the intended Prime
permission through grants.gov or S.A.M. to apply for any federal grant for this client? Will it reject my Applicant by a proposed Sub-applicant. The Prime Applicant must be an eligible applicant as described
54 6/25/2022 Other application and we won’t have time to submit in 10 days? in FOA Section III.A. Eligible Applicants.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) is not allowed for Topic Area 4 application, however, Carbon
Capture and Utilization (CCU) is allowable for Topic Area 4. Although not explicitly excluded from Topic
Is capture and sequestration of biogenic carbon dioxide contained either in the feedstock or produced Area 1, 2, and 3, applications solely using CCS as a means to reduce GHG emissions would likely not
during the conversion of feedstock to biofuel(s) allowed to reduce the carbon intensity of the biofuel score as well as project reducing GHG emissions by biofuel production processes or CCU. Please note
55 6/26/2022 Technical Topics produced under a proposed technology? all other requirements for these topic areas would still need to be met.

Please see FOA section III.A. iii regarding foreign entities. Please note paragraph two of this FOA
Can an unincorporated consortium have a foreign entity as prime recipient, provided the foreign section, and Appendix C of the necessary information that must be included in the waiver request. DOE
56 6/27/2022 Eligibility entity’s waiver request is accepted? will review such waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.

Under Topic Area 1A, will the whole conversion process from thermochemical conversion to syngas The proposed unit operation(s) within an application do not have to comprise a fully integrated pilot
cleanup to biofuels production of sustainable aviation fuels (for example) have to be demonstrated as scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the project. However, biofuels must demonstrate a reasonable chance
part of the pre-pilot scale-up project? of receiving ASTM International (ASTM) or other regulatory approvals, as evidenced by substantial
discussion in the narrative and inclusion of necessary tasks in the Statement of Project Objectives
57 6/27/2022 Technical Topics (SOPO).

Question on DE-FOA-0002638 Subtopic 1A:

Table 3 specifies the following Pre-pilot requirements for Subtopic Area 1A: 0.5 DTPD feedstock, 100
hours Continuous Time on Stream, 500 hours Cumulative Time on Stream. We are interested in
submitting a 2-step process for Subtopic Area 1A. In “Process A” lignocellulosic biomass undergoes a
novel pretreatment where lignin is removed and upgraded to a co-product that drives the process
economics. “Process A” would be conducted at 0.5 DTPD, 100 continuous hours, 500 total hours on
stream.
In the second step of the process, the carbohydrate residue of “Process A” is further processed using
“Process B”. “Process B” is known technology (gasification, Fischer-Tropsch and hydroprocessing) to
make aviation fuel. Would it be acceptable to run “Process B” on a smaller scale ( < 0.5 DTPD feed) and
for a shorter time (<100 continuous hours, <500 total hours on stream) provided that the aviation fuel
product of “Process B” is produced in sufficient volumes to complete ASTM FastTrack testing of the
58 6/27/2022 Technical Topics aviation fuel? This approach would be acceptable for Subtopic Area 1a.

It is up to the recipient to determine if their technologies fit within a specific topic area and make the
case for their technology within a specific topic area. Please see the response to Question #38 above,
EERE staff are prohibited from answering questions outside the stated Q &A process, all questions must
59 6/27/2022 Technical Topics Will DoE be willing to discuss details of our technology with us? be submitted via the FY22BETOScaleUp@ee.doe.gov mailbox.
Are projects that demonstrate conversion Gen 1 ethanol plants to use renewable process heat within Projects that demonstrate the use of renewable process heat to lower a Gen-1 ethanol plant’s carbon
60 6/27/2022 Technical Topics bounds for topic 4b? intensity ARE allowable for topic area 4b.
Please see FOA section IV Application and Submission information. References must be included as
Since space is limited, please clarify if you want references shown in the concept paper. The footnotes or endnotes in a font size of 10 or larger. Footnotes and endnotes are counted toward the
61 6/27/2022 Concept Paper formatting instructions on page 69 imply that you want references included in the concept paper. maximum page requirement.
The submission deadline for concept papers for this FOA will remain as stated on the cover page fo the
62 6/28/2022 Due Dates Is there any chance the concept paper deadline can be extended? FOA document, 07/08/2022 5:00pm ET.

On Page 18, “Subtopic Area 1b will scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the
laboratory scale (TRL 3 or 4) and into industrially-relevant piece(s) of equipment (TRL 5). Engineering
solutions for the key process steps can include a single unit operation or multiple unit operations…”
We have a quarter-acre pond. Is the DOE fund allowed for retrofitting the existing pond and/or for
new construction to build more units other than the necessary equipment purchase for unit Yes, retro fits of existing facilities are allowable under all topic areas assuming all other requirements
63 6/28/2022 Technical Topics operations? are met.

Funding is contingent upon the availability of funds appropriated by Congress for the purpose of this
program and the availability of future-year budget authority. It should be noted that this year’s Scale-
Could you comment as to the reduction in maximum federal funds relative to last years call given an Up+ FOA, DE-FOA-0002638, only includes scale-up topics. Last year’s Scale-Up and Conversion FOA, DE-
64 6/30/2022 Webinar increase in potential scope (e.g. to include process inputs that have the 70% GHG reduction)? FOA-0002396, also included topics from BETO’s Conversion subprogram.

Feedstock – Per APPENDIX G - ACCEPTABLE FEEDSTOCKS Grain starch is an allowable feedstock, since
the ethanol is made from grain starch this would be allowable. Product - Topic Areas 1 - 3 require a
sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable marine fuel, and/or sustainable rail fuel (as
Can projects use Gen1.0 Ethanol for demonstration of 0.5 DMTP/day with the "potential" to be equally defined in Appendix D - Glossary of the FOA). Ethanol would not qualify. Topic Area 4 does allow
applicable to Gen2.0 in order to meet the 70% GHG reduction? Or would this make it ineligible for this ethanol as a product, but all other requirements must be met. Note, applications proposing process
65 6/30/2022 Webinar call? technology development with mock or ideal process streams are not of interest.
Yes, the introduction of each Subtopic area distinguishes what TRL levels projects should be at to be
66 6/30/2022 Webinar Are there TRL levels associated with the various subtopic areas? eligible.

With the exception of Subtopic 1b, Waste CO2 is an acceptable feedstock. Note that for the purposes
of this FOA, Waste CO2 is defined as any waste carbon dioxide (CO2) produced as a byproduct from
fermentation or the combustion of biomass or other biopower processes. Please see the Subtopic area
67 6/30/2022 Webinar Can the proposal include the production of algae using Industrial CO2? Requirements table for accepted terminal products.

The final product must be a liquid fuel that is intended for use in the aviation, marine, rail, and long-
Would on-site production of hydrogen to displace diesel fuel needed run a biomass electricity plant haul trucking industries. As such hydrogen would not be an acceptable product. Additionally,
68 6/30/2022 Webinar qualify as a fundable pre-pilot grant? applications proposing biopower or heat as the primary product are not of interest.

Encourage/discourage notifications are scheduled to be sent within 5 business days after concept
papers are submitted. This is subject to change, but applicants will have at least 8 weeks between the
69 6/30/2022 Webinar How long to encourage or discourage notice after submitting Concept Paper concept paper notifications and the due date for full applications.

Product - Topic Areas 1 - 3 require a sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable marine
fuel, and/or sustainable rail fuel (as defined in Appendix D - Glossary of the FOA). Ethanol would not
qualify. In order to qualify, the ethanol would need to go through an upgrading step to produce a
qualifying fuel. Topic Area 4 does allow ethanol as a product, but all other requirements of the Topic
We have learned that DOE has a new tech for converting ethanol into aviation fuel. Can we qualify Area must be met. Appendix G of the FOA outlines the acceptable feedstocks for each Subtopic areas,
70 6/30/2022 Webinar marine algae to Ethanol as a qualifying fuel? in addition Section I.A have tables outlining the target product pathways for each Subtopic area.
 Feedstock – Per APPENDIX G - ACCEPTABLE FEEDSTOCKS Grain starch is an allowable feedstock, since
the ethanol is made from grain starch this would be allowable. Product - Topic Areas 1 - 3 require a
sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, sustainable marine fuel, and/or sustainable rail fuel (as
defined in Appendix D - Glossary of the FOA). Ethanol would not qualify. In order to qualify, the
ethanol would need to go through an upgrading step to product a qualifying fuel. Topic Area 4 does
71 6/30/2022 Webinar Are proposals for conventional ethanol projects that are beyond the pre-pilot stage eligible? allow ethanol as a product, but all other requirements must be met.
Per Appendix G – Acceptable Feedstocks, animal waste would fall under the “Organic Wet Waste”
72 6/30/2022 Webinar Would animal waste qualify as a feedstock? category and would be an acceptable feedstock for all Topics except 1b.

Applicants to Topic Areas 1, 2, and 4b do not need to have an existing fully integrated system at the
beginning of the project. To meet the requirements of the initial verification as described in Section
I.C., applicants are required to replicate the data to support their previous scale work described in the
application. However, applicants to Topic Area 3, which intends to scale processes from pilot to
Does the data from runs at previous scale need to be from all steps working together? Or can come demonstration scale, should have met all relevant metrics from the previous scale which includes a
73 6/30/2022 Webinar from different runs of each piece of equipment independently? fully integrated pilot facility.
Per Appendix G – Acceptable Feedstocks, animal waste would fall under the “Organic Wet Waste”
74 6/30/2022 Webinar is poultry litter an acceptable feedstock? category and would be an acceptable feedstock for all Topics except 1b.
Can I get a copy of the slides? I missed the 1st part, because the link wasn't working...at least until I
75 6/30/2022 Webinar registered with EERI. A copy of the webinar slides has been posted under the FOA listing on EERE Exchange.
76 6/30/2022 Webinar How is the meeting recording accessed? The link is not allowing access. A link to the recording has been posted to EERE Exchange.

To be eligible under Topic Area 2, Pilot Scale, the proposal should be a TRL 4 with a maximum of TRL 6
77 6/30/2022 Webinar What define a Biorefinery as a Lab Pilot Project? at the conclusion of the project. Reference Appendix E – Definition of Technology Readiness Levels.

Can the biofuel production systems be located at independent locations and integrated by pipe or
truck, e.g. green hydrogen produced at one location and shipped to a renewable jet fuel production Yes, transportation and other economic considerations of such a process at commercial scale should be
78 6/30/2022 Webinar facility for use in hydrotreating esters and organic acids. included in the TEA and LCA.

79 6/30/2022 Webinar Would adding a crush plant for a new feedstock (Cara QTA oil) for SAF facilities be eligible? Yes
The authorizing statute and appropriations language must allow for the use of federal funds on another
80 6/30/2022 Webinar Can funding for topic area 3 be used on a project that is also receiving a USDA 9003 loan? federally funded project.

81 6/30/2022 Webinar Is a project that has been awarded a grant from another agency eligible under this FOA? See answer to question #80 above

As set forth in Section IV.J.iii of the FOA., all work under EERE funding agreements must be performed
in the United States. Per the FOA Section IV.D. xiv, J.iii.3, and in Appendix C, applicants can submit a
foreign work waiver for DOE review uploaded to the full application submission section of Exchange.
Please also refer to FOA section III.A.iii for more information on eligible applicants. All prime recipients
receiving funding under this FOA must be incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a state
or territory of the United States and have a physical location for business operations in the United
82 6/30/2022 Webinar We are a multinational company. Can the funding be used to do research work outside the country? States.

The "DE-FOA-0002638 FY22 BETO Scale-Up+" document is corrupted every time i try to download it A Word version of the FOA has been added to the EERE Exchange site. If problems with downloading
83 6/30/2022 Webinar from Exchange persist, please contact the helpdesk at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov.

Projects are encouraged to utilize predictive modeling and high-performance computing to accelerate
and optimize their unit operation(s) design(s). It would be expected that a model of a process, or
certain unit operation, is backed up by actual experimental data that was run for the stated throughput
intervals and with real-world feed and recycle streams. It is up to the Applicant to demonstrate and
84 6/30/2022 Webinar Can a lab based pre-pilot product be computer based or actual hardware must be available? justify that a computer-based pre-pilot product is industrially-relevant.

Per the Subtopic Area Specific Requirements sections of each topic area: “Production of bioproducts is
allowable as coproducts if essential for the overall economics of biofuel production. However, of all the
Does the production of microbial protein from feedstock- such as lignocellulosic material or food carbon contained in the biofuels and coproducts, at least 50% must be in the biofuel(s). Reference
85 6/30/2022 Webinar waste falls under the scope of eligibility for 1a topic? Appendix G for acceptable feedstocks.
For 1a, if we use the crop seed as the feedstock, the output should be 0.5 DTPD by the feedstock or The 0.5 DTPD is the equivalent nameplate capacity throughput of the unit operation. In this case, the
86 6/30/2022 Webinar final fuel? feedstock throughput.

To be clear, the criteria like in 1a for so many hours of operation are for the plant to be built if Correct, the metrics in Table 3 should be achieved by the end of the project. These metrics do not need
87 6/30/2022 Webinar funded--it is not something that has to be done in order to qualify for submission. to be met by the application phase.

Topic Area 1a and 4b, pre-pilot, will scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the
laboratory scale (TRL 3 or 4) and into industrially-relevant piece(s) of equipment (TRL 5). The proposed
unit operation(s) within an application do not have to comprise a fully integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6)
by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support future integration of the entire process
88 6/30/2022 Webinar What is the definition of "pre-pilot" scale? at pilot or demonstration scale. Reference Appendix E – Definition of Technology Readiness Levels.
89 6/30/2022 Webinar Is methanol suitable as the Renewable Liquid Fuel for topic 2a or 2b? Please see answer to question #34 above

The metrics in Section I.B.iv. Table 4 are end of project requirements. Applicants must have sufficient
prior data to justify the ability to confidently scale to this level of production by the end of the project.
The method and data type presented by the applicant to meet the prior-scale data requirement of
In order to apply for pilot scale, do you need to show data from exactly 35 gal/day for 500 hours (100 topic area 2 is up to the applicant. Please note that the merit review committee reviewers will look at
90 6/30/2022 Webinar continuous), or just data that supports that equivalent ability? this as a basis of review.

You will need to provide supporting documentation for each sub-system, even if it is an “off-the-shelf”
or “commercially available” unit if they are being used with a new feed stream and/or used in a new
For Subtopic 2, do you need to provide supporting documentation for a sub-system if it is a manner. The integrated process, including sub-systems will be subject to verification requirements of
commercially available unit, or can you simply state you'll use an off the shelf component to help with the FOA in Section I.C. The level of detail regarding sub-systems to be included in the Technical Volume
91 6/30/2022 Webinar integration? and Block Flow Diagram is up to the applicant.

Our project is an application to fund a feasibility study of a non-commercialized PtL production plant
that is only economical at commercial scale. This project’s combination of pre-pilot readiness but
needs to be approached at commercial scale is not a neat fit in the DOE categories of 2a or 2b. Does
92 6/30/2022 Webinar this project qualify for 2a or 2b despite its size exceeding the volumetric limit? The volume requirements listed in the FOA are minimums only.

Topic Area 3: "1,000,000 gallons of biofuel per year equivalent": Equivalent to what exactly?
93 6/30/2022 Webinar Equivalent to 1,000,000 gallons of diesel based on higher heating value? Or is it another metric? Please reference Question #16 above.

It is up to the applicant to determine the scope of their proposed project. The goal of topic 3b is to
solicit applications for fully-integrated demonstration scale facilities producing 1,000,000 or more
gallons of biofuel per year or equivalent. Non-integrated feedstock production assets may be excluded
Can an applicant submit only a portion of a project design (under subtopic 3b)? The FOA appears to be from the project if the technology is fully commercial and the supply chain is well defined and the costs
asking for a full design package. However, some of these projects could cost as much as $2 billion. It is and environmental impacts are accounted for in the TEA and LCA. Also, there may be allowable
difficult to include a full project that costs $2 billion in matching support; it is more reasonable to circumstances where an applicant is producing an intermediate stream that will be further processed
94 6/30/2022 Webinar include a much smaller aspect of the full project. Is this allowable? in an existing facility e.g. a bio oil intermediate to be co-processed in an existing refinery.

This would be allowed subject to the verification requirements of the FOA in section I.C.. Section I.B.viii
Our company would like to use an oil extraction process that has been used within other industries. outlines the data and design requirements for Subtopic 3a and 3b, it should be noted that under
We would like to apply it to the renewable fuels industry. Is this allowable at commercial scale (3a or Section I.D of the FOA applications that propose projects employing solely commercially available
95 6/30/2022 Webinar 3b)? Or do we have to go through pre-pilot/ pilot first? technologies are discouraged.

Topic 3a: For the pilot to demonstration scaleup, it is required to have a specific technology chosen?
What is you are evaluating two technologies (that have completed the pilot stage) that produce the The decision regarding technology selection does not have to be made prior to Concept Paper
same outcome, but with somewhat different processes. Must the vendor be chosen before the submission. However, applications may not include more than 10% of the total project budget for the
96 6/30/2022 Webinar Concept Paper submission? Or the process of choosing be part of the preliminary design process? purpose of the process R&D required to down-select a specific technology.

For Gen-1 Ethanol Emission Reduction: Feasibility Studies, we presently have a CO2-to-lipids process See FOA Section IV.C and Section IV.D for guidance on needed material for Concept Paper and Full
operating at bench level but lack the expertise to do a detailed TEA. Can an award here be used to Application, respectively. Technical fitness to complete the proposed work is part of the FOA Selection
contract out such a cost analysis? If so, does a firm or partner (eg., NREL) have to be identified process, all partners should be identified in the application prior to submission. See Section IV.D.xi for
97 6/30/2022 Webinar beforehand? more information on working with FFRDC.

Topic Area 1a and 4b, pre-pilot, will scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the
laboratory scale (TRL 3 or 4) and into industrially-relevant piece(s) of equipment (TRL 5). The proposed
unit operation(s) within an application do not have to comprise a fully integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6)
by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support future integration of the entire process
98 6/30/2022 Webinar For 4b, what is the definition of pre-pilot? at pilot or demonstration scale. Reference Appendix E – Definition of Technology Readiness Levels.

Yes, National Laboratories, also known as Federally Funded Research and Development Centers
(FFRDC) at allowed as project partners. Per section II.B.ii: Funding Agreements with Federally Funded
Research and Development Center (FFRDCs) – “In most cases, FFRDCs are funded independently of
the remainder of the project team. The FFRDC then executes an agreement with any non-FFRDC
project team members to arrange work structure, project execution, and any other matters.
Regardless of these arrangements, the entity that applied as the prime recipient for the project will
remain the prime recipient for the project.” Also, please note per section III.B.vi: Cost Share
Payment - “As FFRDC funding will be provided directly to the FFRDC(s) by DOE, prime recipients will
be required to provide project cost share at a percentage commensurate with the FFRDC costs, on
a budget period basis, resulting in a higher interim invoicing cost share ratio than the total award
ratio.” Lastly, review section III.E: Other Eligibility Requirements or most FFRDC requirements.

Does this FOA allow for partnering with a bioprocess development group, particularly a BETO-funded
99 6/29/2022 Technical Topics facility, i.e. FFRDC's?

This question is related to Topic Area 1. In the Question and Answer Log, you have mentioned that
"Applicants to Topic Area 1 will be required to demonstrate proof of technology success at the
laboratory scale". Does this mean that applicants already need to have their technology working at
laboratory scale, even before applying for this FOA ? Or does this mean that applicants will need to
show success of their technology working at laboratory scale, as part of this FOA (by the completion of
100 6/30/2022 Technical Topics the BETO funded project) Prior scale data is needed for topic area 1 in the application to provide current TRL justification.
Please note that section I.D. of the FOA lists the types of applications that will not be reviewed or
considered for any Topic Area (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes "Applications that propose the production of
101 6/30/2022 Technical Topics Does Biodiesel qualify for the 0002638 FY22 Scale-Up grant or must it only be for Renewable Diesel? biodiesel." Renewable diesel is allowable.

Can you please provide further insight into each topic area please:
Topic Area 1: Pre-Pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries
Topic Area 2: Pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries
Topic Area 3: Demonstration Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries
Topic Area 4: Gen-1 Corn Ethanol Emission Reduction
What are the requirements and descriptions for qualification under each topic area? Any further Please view the full Funding Opportunity Announcement document uploaded in the Documents
102 6/30/2022 Technical Topics information would be appreciated. section of this FOA as published on EERE-Exchange.energy.gov.
What is the control number for this grant?
The control number will be assigned automatically in the EERE Exchange system to an application,
103 6/30/2022 Other Is it the FOA Number or the CFDA number, or something else? when an applicant begins the EERE Exchange application Process.

Please see FOA section III.F. Limitations on Number of Concept Papers and Full Applications Eligible for
Review. An entity may only submit one Concept Paper and Full Application to Subtopics 2a, 2b, 3a, or
3b. “If an entity submits more than one Concept Paper and Full Application, EERE will request a
determination from the Applicant’s authorizing representative as to which application should be
reviewed.” This limitation does not prohibit an applicant from collaborating on other applications (e.g.,
Just to confirm - you are only allowed to be the Prime applicant in only one (Topic 2a, 2b, 3a, or3b) but as a potential subrecipient or partner) so long as the entity is only listed as the applicant on one
104 7/1/2022 Application Content/Format you can be a subawardee in multiple applications? Concept Paper and one Full Application submitted under this FOA.

Can you clarify: Does this FOA cover the development of cellulosic oils that is not the finished fuel, but A finished fuel must be produced for Topic Areas 2 and 3. A precursor is allowable to Topic Area 1 and
105 7/2/2022 Technical Topics can then be used as a feedstock by a third party renewable diesel or SAF producer? 4 if all other requirements (ASTM approvals, etc. are met).

Concept Papers and Full Applications MUST be submitted through the DE-FOA-0002638 FOA listing on
the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/, and cannot be submitted via email,
Where should Concept Papers be submitted? I wasn’t sure if I should send directly via email or submit or any other method of submission. Please see the FOA document also listed on the EERE Exchange
106 7/6/2022 Concept Paper it through a portal. website for more information on due dates, etc.
An applicant is not required to have an active SAM registration at the time its Concept Paper is
submitted; that requirement applies only at the time an award is made, but the applicant should be
registered by the time its full application is submitted. Please see relevant FOA provisions below and
instructions for purposes of submitting a Concept Paper if the applicant’s SAM registration has become
inactive or otherwise expired. Concept Papers must be submitted through EERE-Exchange; any Concept
Paper submitted outside EERE-Exchange will not be considered.
See FOA Section IV.A. Application Process, “All submissions must conform to the following form and
content requirements, including maximum page lengths (described below) and must be submitted via
EERE Exchange at https://eereExchange.energy.gov, unless specifically stated otherwise. EERE will not
review or consider submissions submitted through means other than EERE Exchange, submissions
submitted after the applicable deadline, or incomplete submissions.” Applicants are required to submit
Concept Papers through EERE-Exchange.
See FOA Section IV.G. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM). “Each
applicant (unless the applicant is an individual or federal awarding agency that is excepted from those
requirements under 2 CFR 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the federal awarding
agency under 2 CFR 25.110(d)) is required to: (1) Be registered in the SAM at https://www.sam.gov
before submitting its application; (2) provide a valid UEI in its application; and (3) continue to maintain
an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active federal
award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal awarding agency.”
The Applicant should have an active SAM registration prior to the submission of a full application as
stated in FOA Section IV.G. “DOE may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has
complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with
the requirements by the time DOE is ready to make a federal award, the DOE will determine that the
applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a
federal award to another applicant.”
The Applicant may select N/A for the UEI Number field in EERE-Exchange for the Concept Paper
Submission. The information button associated with the UEI Number field states “Please provide the
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) for your organization or select N/A if it does not apply. You may also
select N/A if the UEI number is still in progress (i.e., has not yet been assigned to the organization). In
the case that the UEI number is still in progress, you may update the UEI associated with your account
once the UEI is assigned.
Our SAM registration is currently inactive, can we still submit a Concept Paper while we work to
107 7/6/2022 Concept Paper reactivate our SAM registration? Can Concept Papers be submitted outside of EERE-Exchange?

I watched the web presentation for the RE: DOE EERE DE-FOA-0002638: FY22 SCALE-UP OF
INTEGRATED BIOREFINERIES AND GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION IN FIRST GENERATION ETHANOL
PRODUCTION (SCALE-UP+) funding opportunity. During the presentation it was stated that applicants
need to “obtain a control number at least 24 hours before” the submission deadline. But it didn’t say
where you obtain a control number from.

I have gone into the application paage and filled everything out but the Abstract and tried to hit Please see response to question #103 above and FOA Section IV.A, Application Process. in addtion,
submit, but it wouldn’t advance me. I don’t want to fill out the abstract because I am submitting a please see the Applicant Guide to Exchange in the Exchange resoures page for more information. A
concept paper and need to attach it, which is not allowed. Please tell me where and how I obtain a Control Number will be issued when an applicant begins the EERE Exchange application Process. Please
108 7/6/2022 Concept Paper control number. also note, that all mandatory fields in an application submission must be completed.

For Topic 2b, is it allowable for data collection from the previous scale to be on-going when the
application is submitted? The data collection will be complete prior to the start of the initial
verification process (Task 1).
109 7/6/2022 Technical Topics Does the pilot plant have to be co-located with the CO2 source, or can the CO2 be transported in?
1. Please reference #90 within the Q&A sheet. Applicants must have sufficient prior data to justify the
ability to confidently scale to this level of production by the end of the project. The method and data
type presented by the applicant to meet the prior-scale data requirement of topic area 2 is up to the
applicant. Please note that the merit review committee reviewers will look at this as a basis of review.
2. Please reference #78 within the Q&A sheet. No, the pilot plant does not need to be co-located at
the feedstock source, but transportation and other economic considerations of such a process at pilot
scale should be included in the TEA and LCA.

1. Please see answers to Q&A questions #56 and #82 above.

2. Yes, the Applicant’s budget for Topic Areas 1a, 1b, and 2b should include provisions for operating a
pre-pilot and pilot scale equipment/biorefinery to meet the final project metrics listed for those Topic
Areas. Note, applications to Topic Area 2a will be subjected to Phase 1 (Verification and Design Basis
Definition) requirements as described in Section 1.B.vi. The submitted budget to Topic Area 2a should
We need to ask the following 2 questions: only include funding for Phase 1 activities. During the Down-Select at Critical Decision #2, a
1. whether this project is open for applicants from large multinational companies. separate/new budget will be required for continuation into Phase 2 (Final Design, Construction,
2. Whether topic areas 1 & 2 include operational budget to run-test/operate the pilot scale-up Operation). As such, a budget for biorefinery shakedown and operation should not be included for
110 7/6/2022 Technical Topics biorefineries. Topic Area 2a applications.

Can you please clarify the Full Application Content Requirements for Topic Area 4a? The Table
provided on page 77 of the FOA does not include a Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data for
Topic area 4a. However, the list of Subtopic Area 4a Specific Requirements on pages 46 and 47 in the
last bullet states, “A Block Flow Diagram and Supplemental Data template are required as part of the A block flow diagram is not a requirement, but is optional, for Topic Area 4a Gen-1 Feasibility Study.
111 7/14/2022 Technical Topics application.” This was an oversight in the topic 4a specific requirements.
Where should Concept Papers be submitted? I wasn’t sure if I should send directly via email or submit Please refer to Question #106 above. Please also note the due dates for submissions listed in the cover
112 7/14/2022 Concept Paper it through a portal. page of the FOA.

For FOA2638 sub-topic 2a, is it acceptable to the DOE that the maximum scale-up factor of 50x be Topic Area 2 (pilot) requires a minimum of 20,000 gallon a year equivalent, so the initial 1.2 gal/day
applied twice during the project within the allowable schedule and budget? The first application will scaled to 60 gal/day would meet that requirement. If an applicant feels a second stage of a project to
be to scale-up a prior scale of 1.2 gal/day to demonstrate an intermediate scale of 60 gal/day. The scale again would strengthen the project it is not explicitly excluded however all other requirements
second application will be to scale-up the 60 gal/day intermediate scale to demonstrate a final scale of would need to be meet and risks must be discussed in the application and it is up to the merit
113 7/19/2022 Technical Topics 3000 gal/day. reviewers to determine the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.

No, Per the cover page of the FOA, "Applicants must submit a Concept Paper by 5PM ET on the due
We missed the deadline to submit a concept to FOA-0002638. Is it still possible to submit a full date specified in the table listed above [due date table referenced] to be eligibile to submit a full
114 7/19/2022 Due Dates application without a submitted concept paper? application." Please note, the submission deadline for Concept Papers was 07/08/2022 5PM ET.

Correct, the host country’s environmental regulations would govern projects occurring within their
jurisdictions so any recipient would have to comply with any required regulations and/or
Will National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review be required for a project outside of the USA, or environmental requirements of that country. DOE also must comply with Executive Order (EO) 12114,
will the host country’s regulations govern the environmental assessment/environmental impact to further the purposes of NEPA with respect to the environment outside the United States, its
115 7/19/2022 Other statement? territories and possessions.
Under sub-topic 2a: ‘For the initial project verification, is it acceptable to the DOE that the applicant
uses existing data from the prior scale as a verification without having to conduct an actual If the data in question has been previously verified by BETO’s verification team then a duplicative test
116 7/20/2022 Technical Topics performance test? will not be required assuming all key performance parameters are the same.
 As they pertain to an application “(a) existing process” refers to the process the proposed process in an
application is based on. For instance, for a Topic Area 2 – Pilot application the existing data could be
from a pre-pilot scale project, a bench-scale process, or equivalent such that a scale-up factor of 50x is
A few clarifications regarding the Block Flow Diagram (BFD) and Pro-forma. These questions relate to not exceeded. Subsequently, the “(b) proposed equipment / unit operations” is refereeing to the
the '2. Pilot" topic areas and template, although may also be applicable to the 'pre-pilot' template. process being proposed in the application that is based on the “(a) existing process” data. Lastly, “(c)
fully integrated facility” is referring to the eventual commercial scale facility based on the “(b)
On page 1 of the BFD, the template makes reference to '(a) existing process', '(b) proposed proposed equipment / unit operations”.
equipment/unit operations', and '(c) fully integrated facility', although I see no further reference to (a),
(b), or (c). Do these prefixes refer to anything specific in the BFD or template? In the second page of the BFD&SD, number 2 requests data about “Description of the PROPOSED unit
operation”. The data for this should refer to “(b) proposed equipment / unit operations”. Similarly,
On page 2 of the BFD template, the template asks to describe the 'PROPOSED unit operation' (see snip number 3 requests data from “Current state of technology of PROPOSED unit operation”. This data
below). Should responses to questions 2.1-11 and 2.1-5 reflect the pilot-facility to be should refer to “(a) existing process”. Lastly, number 3.3 asks for sustainability metrics for the
designed/developed/built as part of the project, or a larger-scale (demonstration or commercialization envisioned commercial-scale facility. This is referencing “(c) fully integrated facility”. The Proforma
117 7/20/2022 Technical Topics scale) facility? should be calculated against this, the commercial-scale facility.

The FOA states all applications must be submitted via EERE Exchange at https://eere-
Exchange.energy.gov. However, when we follow this link and scroll down to the DE-FOA-0002638:
FY22 SCALE-UP OF INTEGRATED BIOREFINERIES AND GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION IN FIRST
GENERATION ETHANOL PRODUCTION (SCALE-UP+) announcement, there is no “APPLY” link. What is You must login to EERE Exchange using your login credentials to be able to submit a full application
118 7/21/2022 Concept Paper the link to submit our application for this program? under the FOA.

Regarding the BETO ScaleUp + FOA 0002683: Under Topic area 2a, should the SOPO cover the Phase 1
(Verification & Design Basis Definition) or should the SOPO describe activities for both Phase I and For Subtopic Areas 2a and 3a, the SOPO and budget should only cover Phase 1 (Preliminary Design and
Phase 2 (Final design, construction, and operation)? The same question for the budget. Should the Phased Construction) of the project. The scope and budget for Phase 2 (Final Design and Construction)
119 7/25/2022 Technical Topics budget detail Phase 1 of the project or for both Phase 1 and Phase 2? should be discussed in the technical volume.

Per FOA instructions, the minimum pilot size is 20,000 gallons per year and the maximum scaleup from
pre-pilot to pilot is 50x. Would a pre-pilot of 2,000 gallons per year be compliant if the pre-pilot uses
the same unit operations and designs as a pilot unit? The pre-pilot to pilot scaling would be 10x. But
our proposed pre-pilot would be 6x smaller than the pre-pilot size listed in the FOA, which is about
12,000 gallons per year (assumes 70 gallons of fuel per 70 DT or expressing 35 gal/day in gallons per As long as the 50x scale-up factor per unit operation isn’t exceed for a pilot then the previous scale
120 7/26/2022 Technical Topics year). data (whether that is bench-, engineering-, or pre-pilot scale) is appropriate.

Topic 4a allows for funding for eligible projects that result in GHG reductions for existing corn (grain
starch) ethanol plants. Appendix G specifies that, if feedstock is Grain Starch, then “Greenhouse Gas
reductions of at least 70% must be met if utilizing grain starch.” Can you clarify if a Project is using
grain starch as the feedstock, does the Project within a Full Application have to achieve a 70%
reduction by itself, or can there be other options not funded within the Application that also combined
with Project to achieve the 70% reduction?
For example, most ethanol plants already have 25% reduction in GHG relative to petroleum. Some
have higher levels depending on their operations and products (example: wet distillers grains). Does
the project have to result in another 45% reduction itself? Or, would a Project within the Full
Application qualify in Topic 4a using Grain Starch if it starts with a 25% baseline reduction then The requirement for TA4a and 4b is a 3.58 gCO2e/MJ reduction upon implementation of the proposed
reduces GHG emissions by 25%, and there are other technologies outside the Project (like carbon technology rather than the 70% goal. This would represent a 5% CI score reduction from the current
sequestration, farm management practices) that also provide another 20% reduction with reasonable baseline state of technology. The final required TEA (for the nth plant) can use combined technologies
121 7/26/2022 Technical Topics pathways for development outside of the Project? to reach the 70% GHG reductions compared to fossil fuels.

With respect to Section II.B.ii. of the FOA (Award Administrative Requirements), can a standard
122 7/26/2022 Application Content/Format template/model for a cooperative agreement award package for an EERE Funding Award be provided? No, a sample cooperative agreement is not available.

No, leased/rented equipment is not subject to dispostiion requirements in 2 CFR 910.360 since by
definition leased equipment is not purchased with project funds. However, any leased equipment
If the project leases equipment, would the equipment be subject to the disposition requirements as would generally be charged as a usage fee to a project.Please reference 2CF200.318 for information on
123 7/26/2022 Other described in Section IV.J.vi. of the FOA? equipment leases vs purchasing.

Please note the statement under section I.B.vii of the FOA, specifically regarding NEPA: "All Subtopic
Area 2b project activities will be subject to NEPA review. Applicants should account for NEPA related
efforts in the project scope, schedule, and budget. Budget Period 1 of each award will be limited in
scope, as it will focus only on the initial verification and potential NEPA requirements for subsequent
budget periods. Construction of new facilities will not be allowed in Budget Period 1. Any
With respect to Section I.B.vii. of the FOA (Subtopic Area 2b), if design and construction are fully construction activities will be restricted to Budget Period 2. DOE will complete additional NEPA review
funded by the recipients as their portion of cost share, can construction begin before BP2, or would for Budget Period 2 activities." This applies to any activitiy whether it is funded by Federal or non-
124 7/26/2022 Other this trigger a breach of the funding terms? federal cost share.

For Topic Area 1, the proposed unit operation(s) within an application do not have to comprise a fully
integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support future
integration of the entire process at pilot or demonstration scale therefore would not have to produce a
final fuel. However, the ultimate biofuel(s) that is the target of the project must demonstrate a
reasonable chance of receiving ASTM International (ASTM) or other regulatory approvals, as evidenced
by substantial discussion in the narrative and inclusion of necessary tasks in the Statement of Project
Objectives (SOPO).
For Topic Area 2, pilot scale facilities developed under Topic Area 2 must produce at the plant’s rated
For Topic Area 1 and 2, do we need to produce the final fuel molecule or a biofuel intermediate is still capacity, a minimum quantity of 20,000 gallons per year of liquid biobased hydrocarbon fuel for
125 7/27/2022 Technical Topics fine? aviation, marine, rail, or long-haul trucking applications therefore a final fuel must be produced.
Is there a preferred format, template, or example to follow for Project Management Plan for the BETO
126 7/27/2022 Application Content/Format SCALEUP+ full application? No, there is no template available for the Project Management Plan.

As noted in FOA section B.xix, "As part of the application, the principal investigator and senior/key
personnel at the applicant and subrecipient level must provide a list of all sponsored activities,
awards, and appointments, whether paid or unpaid; provided as a gift with terms or conditions or
provided as a gift without terms or conditions; full-time, part-time, or voluntary; faculty, visiting,
adjunct, or honorary; cash or in-kind; foreign or domestic; governmental or private-sector; directly
supporting the individual’s research or indirectly supporting the individual by supporting students,
In preparing our full proposal we wanted to be sure we understood the information needed for the research staff, space, equipment, or other research expenses". Current and pending support would
"current and pending support" component. Our team consists primarily of private companies. Do need to be included for any and all key personnel at the prime and subrecipient levels.
these companies need to provide details of other projects they are working on, and/or sources of
funding (e.g. venture capital), or only federal / state R&D funding? As an example, would an Please note, Current and Pending Support does not apply to contractors or subcontractors, or "fee for
engineering firm working on a state or federally funded bridge contract need to report that under service" contractors who collect a fee for a service, but does apply to recipients, and subrecipients.
current and pending support? Would contract R&D service offered by members of the project team Non-university entities can still be prime recipients and/or subrecipients and thus, have “key
have to be reported? Would a venture capital investment covering related technology developments personnel” involved, which would require them to submit Current and Pending Support statements.
need to be reported? Would work done by members of the project team for potential strategic Any entity designated as either a prime recipient or subrecipient in the project directly involved in the
127 7/29/2022 Other partners in this, or other, work areas need to be reported? project work, would be required to submit current and pending support.

1. Topic 1: FOA uses the language of biofuel equivalent in topic 1. We have demonstrated 2G
feedstock pre-treatment and fermentation to an intermediate at 0.5 TPD scale once, only, so 100 hour
run. However, the production of the final fuel has only been done at lab scale of ~0.5-1 liter per day.
Preliminary analysis suggests the fuel to be superior to Jet-A. Would a proposal that scales the
intermediate production to the required scale in the FOA but the final fuel is produced at smaller scale
for various studies and certification be responsive? 1) For Topic Area 1, the proposed unit operation(s) within an application do not have to comprise a
fully integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the project, but rather can be utilized to support
2. Topic 2: Our understanding is that our process at current scale of final SAF production (0.5-1L/day) future integration of the entire process at pilot or demonstration scale therefore would not have to
may not qualify for topic 2. If we were to apply for topic 2, can we use the 10% of funds for scaling the produce a final fuel. However, the ultimate biofuel(s) that is the target of the project must demonstrate
specific intermediate to SAF unit operations from the lab scale to pre-pilot scale first and then use that a reasonable chance of receiving ASTM International (ASTM) or other regulatory approvals, as
as a basis for the final design during phase 1 in order to comply with maximum scale up factor during evidenced by substantial discussion in the narrative and inclusion of necessary tasks in the Statement
phase 2 be allowable? of Project Objectives (SOPO).
2) 2a: Pilot Scale – Preliminary Design and Phased Construction, is intended for projects that have all
3. Topic 2: The fermentation intermediate is a liquid that can be produced at an existing FFRDC facility prior scale data and are ready to design a pilot facility. The 10% R&D is intended for minor project
at the required scale for topic 2. This intermediate is stable and can be transported just like crude oil. needs, not full scaling of unit operations to meet FOA requirements.
We only need to construct new skids for the conversion of this intermediate. Does this skid need to be 3) The intent of Topic Area 2 projects would be to have an integrated pilot biorefinery so as described
128 8/1/2022 Technical Topics on site at the FFRDC facility or can it be at another location? below the process would be better suited for Topic Area 1.

No, Topic Area 1 is intended to scale portions of a system (a single or multiple unit operations) to pilot
equivalent scale in order to reduce the risk of scaling particularly risky unit operations. Per the FOA,
“Topic Area 1 will scale up key process steps that are ready to move out of the laboratory scale (TRL 3
or 4) and into industrially-relevant piece(s) of equipment (TRL 5). The proposed unit operation(s) within
an application do not have to comprise a fully integrated pilot scale unit (TRL 6) by the end of the
In Q/A #120, DOE notes that pre-pilot data from a unit with a throughput equivalent of 2,000 gal/year project, but rather can be utilized to support future integration of the entire process at pilot or
is sufficient to support a pilot facility with a throughput equivalent between 20,000 gal per year (10x demonstration scale.” A minimum of 0.5 Dry Tons Per Day (DTPD) equivalent throughput must be met
scale-up) and 100,000 gal/year (50x scale-up) when applying to Topic 2. Therefore, would we comply by the proposed project, meaning if an applicant wanted to focus on a feed system that system would
with FOA Topic 1a or 4b to propose a pre-pilot facility of 6 gal/day (approx. 2,000 gal/year*) rather have to be designed for at least 0.5 Dry Tons Per Day (DTPD). Subsequently, if an applicant wanted to
than the 35 gal/day (12,000 gal/year*) listed in the FOA for pre-pilot throughput equivalent? focus on the upgrading on an intermediate produced during the process that’s yield was 0.25 tons
(*note: assumes operation of 345 days per year. 0.5 DTPD with a conversion efficiency of 70 gal/DT is intermediate per 0.5 dry ton of feed the proposed upgrading system would need to be sized at to
129 8/1/2022 Technical Topics about 12,000 gal/year, making pre-pilot less than 2x smaller than pilot.) accommodate at least 0.25 tons of intermediate.

Regarding the BETO ScaleUp + FOA 0002683: If we apply to Topic Area 2 and propose to construct a The Block Flow Diagram should represent the proposed pilot facility. The supplement data associated
pilot facility meeting the 20,000 GPY, should the BFD match/represent this 20,000 GPY pilot facility, or with the block flow diagram asks for data for both the planned pilot facility and the future commercial
130 8/2/2022 Technical Topics should be BFD be based on the subsequent commercial facility that would follow. facility. Please see Q&A #117 for more detail on the supplemental data.

There are no formal minimums for a Prime Recipient as long as the Prime Recipient is still able to
administer the award to ensure all reporting requirements, cost share requirements, and other
requirements per the CFR are met. Please note, per section II.E.i.vi, “the scope of work to be
Is there a minimum percentage of the total award that must go to the Prime applicant? If so, what is performed by the FFRDC may not be more significant than the scope of work to be performed by the
131 8/2/222 Other that percentage? applicant.”

1. For Topic 3a, are applicants required to provide a budget and SOPO for Phase 1 and Phase 2
(Topic 3b) of the project? Likewise, should Phase 2 activities be covered in the Technical Volume Work
Breakdown Structure? 1) Please see answer to question #119.
2) There are many factors that may play a role in down-select timing including but not limited to annual
2. For Topic 3a, how long should the applicants expect for the DOE evaluation (Critical Decision-2) funding cycles, availability of funds, project complexity, and award negotiations. As such a precise
132 8/2/2022 Other between Phase 1 and Phase 2? estimate is difficult to arrive upon, but 3 to 6 months would not be uncommon.
For the Subtopic Area 2b Initial Project Verification, is it acceptable to the DOE that the applicant uses
existing data from the prior scale as a verification without having to conduct an actual performance
133 8/2/2022 Technical Topics test? Please see answer to question #116 above.

An Intermediate Verification may not be required for a short duration project. However, please note, if
We are planning a relatively short project (19 months including the initial three month Verification) a project is selected proposing a project length as noted in the question, during the negotiation
with minimal mid-project data available as we prepare for testing our system. Is the Intermediate process, EERE may add in additional Go/No-Go milestones to reduce project risk as needed. As such, a
134 8/2/2022 Other Verification required or can there be only an Initial and Final Verification? 19 month project may still be subject to an intermediate verification based on the scope and budget.

Per FOA section IV.D.X, "Applicants must provide a separate budget justification for each subrecipient
that is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25 percent of the total work
If a subrecipient is sub-contracted to another subrecipient, is the sub-contracted subrecipient required effort (whichever is less)." This would also apply to third-tier subrecipients, or subrecipients of a
135 8/3/2022 Application Content/Format to submit a separate Budget Justification? subrecipient.

An applicant that does not have approved government rates should complete the budget justification
If a subrecipient does not have approved government rates, how should they fill in the Budget with their proposed rates. If an applicant is selected for award negotiations, DOE will require further
136 8/3/2022 Other Justification Workbook? review of the applicant's fringe rate proposal or indirect rate proposal (IRP) at that time.

I noticed the Concept Paper due date was July 8th but the full application due date is September 9th
2022, so I found the opportunity in the middle of both dates.
I was wondering to ask if I still can submit my application on September 9th even when I miss the Please see answer under question #114 above. A Concept Paper must be submitted by the Concept
137 8/4/2022 Due Dates Concept Paper date? Paper due date listed on the cover page of the FOA to be eligible to submit a Full Application.

On page 86 of the FOA, under the SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (required) section, “Prime
recipients and subrecipients are required to complete and submit SF-LLL.” However, a previous
question received the response that FFRDCs were not required to submit an SF-LLL. Are academic
138 8/4/2022 Other partner subrecipients typically required to complete the lobbying form? Yes, academic partner subrecipients are required to complete the SF-LLL lobbying form
For the block flow diagram or BFD and supplemental data (for topic area 2), are we only providing
those for the proposed Pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries, or we have to provide the BFD and
139 8/4/2022 Technical Topics supplemental data for the nth plant? Please see FOA question #117 above.
Hello - Is it possible to switch topic area from concept paper to full proposal submission? Topic 1a to
140 8/5/2022 Other 2a, or 2a to 1a, for example? Yes, topic areas may be changed between concept paper and the full application.

Will a unit operation that has already been validated by a DOE independent engineer, using a similar If a process or unit operation has been previously verified by DOE’s verification team then this can be
feedstock, need to be re-evaluated and re-verified? used to meet this requirement. Please note, however, that if the process conditions (including
141 8/5/2022 Technical Topics Apologies for all the questions here, thank you for your guidance. feedstock) are adjusted somehow the DOE verification team may require additional verification.
Where in the Budget Justification Workbook should lease costs be included? (On which tab should
lease costs be input?) If equipment lease costs are imputed, where in the Budget Justification Equipment lease/rental, or associated equipment usage fees should be listed on the "other direct
142 8/5/2022 Other Workbook should they be input? costs" tab of the budget justification workbook.

The composition of the project team can change in between the submission of the Concept Paper and
Will applicants be permitted to change the PI between the submission of a concept paper and a full the Full Application. Please reach out to the EERE Exchange Helpdesk with regards to changing the
143 8/5/2022 Other application? access in EERE-Exchange.energy.gov. EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov
For the block flow diagram or BFD and supplemental data (for topic area 2), do we need to provide
BFD and supplemental data (and especially SD) for both the pilot plant and the commercial plant
144 8/8/2022 Other (“fully integrated facility”) for the full application? Please see answer to Question #117 above

Subtopic 1b requires a throughput equivalent of 35 gallons/day of biofuel intermediate. Given current No, the throughput equivalent requirement relates to the nameplate capacity of the envisioned pilot
DAC technologies, the required 35 gallons/day is not throughput is not feasible. Would it be facility. This means the scale of equipment being proposed must be appropriate for integration at the
145 8/9/2022 Technical Topics acceptable to reach an output of ~2 gallons/day throughput, rather than the stated 35 gallons/day? nameplate capacity

Please see the answer to #143 above. The composition of the project team can change in between the
submission of the Concept Paper and the Full Application, including the lead organization; however the
We have a question regarding the "Lead Organization." Control Number assigned to the Concept Paper submission may not change in the full application
The client has several sub-entities under its parent company. The client wants to change the "lead submission. Please reach out to the EERE Exchange Helpdesk with regards to changing the access in
146 8/10/2022 Other organization" from sub-entity A to sub-entity B. EERE-Exchange.energy.gov. EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov

The SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form requires the identification of the associated federal The identified federal program name/description is Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency
147 8/11/2022 Other program and its description. Please confirm what information should be provided for this field. and Renewable Energy

The SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form requires the identification of the Lobbying Registrant
(10.a.), the Individual Performing Services (10.b.), and the signatory (11.). If the prime recipient and
sub-recipient are not conducting any lobbying efforts and have no plans to do so with any federal Fields 10a and 10b may be marked "N/A". Signatory field in 11 should be signed by an authorized
148 8/12/2022 Other funds, how should 10.a, 10.b and 11. be completed? representative on behalf of the entity.

The prime recipient should be the preparer of the budget justification for the prime entity, and any
applicable subrecipients should be listed on the relavant subrecipient budget justification under the
The Budget Justification Workbook refers to the “preparer”. Please confirm if the preparer should be preparer designation. As listed on the instructions and summary tab of the budget justification, this
149 8/12/2022 Other the Prime Recipient. may be either the prime recipient, or subrecipient, as applicable.

Appendic C1 of the FOA is designated for use for "Waiver for Foreign Entity Participation as the Prime
Recipient", and as such, only entities proposing to be the prime recipient need to complete this waiver.
Appendix C1 of the FOA is titled “Waiver for Foreign Entity Participation as the Prime Recipient”. However, any work proposed to be completed outside the U.S. (prime or subrecipient) would need to
150 8/12/2022 Other Please confirm if foreign entities acting as a sub-recipient also need to submit this waiver. complete Appendix C2 - "Waiver for Performance of Work in teh United States (Foreign Work Waiver)"
Please see 2CFR200.306 (h-i) and 2CFR200.465 Rental costs of real property and equipment for more
Appendix A of the FOA (page 127) refers to “fair rental value”. Please explain how this value should be information. Please note, the prime applicant must assess the particular value or market value of any
151 8/12/2022 Other assessed. donated space, or equipment on their own.

Considering the following statement on page 59 of the FOA, “EERE does not use such agreements to
acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the United States government”, and this
statement on page 94 of the FOA, “Property disposition will be required at the end of a project if the
current fair market value of property exceeds $5,000”, in what context can a subrecipient loan/lease Please see reference to fair rental value question #151 above. Additionally, for-profit equipment
equipment or capital assets to projects funded through this FOA, without engaging any property disposition regulations under 2CFR910.360 and 2CFR200.310 – 200.316 as noted under FOA section J.iii
152 8/12/2022 Other disposition regulations? will be applicable for the purchase of any equipment/capital asset under the project.

Correct, pre-award costs will not apply before the Selection Statement and Analysis has been signed by
Page 92 of the FOA states that “pre-award costs cannot be incurred prior to the Selection Official the DOE Selection Official. The Selection Statement and Analysis is signed at the end of the DOE review
signing the Selection Statement and Analysis.” Please define the “Selection Statement” and at what and analysis of the submitted full applications under a FOA. Please note the expected timeline of
153 8/12/2022 Other point in the FOA process it is signed. selection notifications located on the cover page of the FOA.

Section VI.B.xiii of the FOA references the Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist, which in turn, states
that a draft project management plan (PMP) is required with the initial funding application. Please If an applicant is selected for award negotiations, a PMP or Project Management Plan will be developed
154 8/12/2022 Other confirm if for this FOA, a draft PMP is required as stated as part of the full proposal. at that time.

Table 7 on Page 30 of the FOA gives the timeframe for Subtopic Area 2b as between 42-48 months.
However, page 59 of the FOA states that the estimated duration of Subtopic Area 2b is between 48-60 A 60 month project length is the maximum length for Topic Areas 2b, as well as 3b, which should
155 8/12/2022 Other months. Please confirm the expected timeframe for this subtopic. include the 3 month verification period at the beginning of the project.

The date as referenced on the cover page of the FOA refers to the expected/anticipated date for award
The cover page of FOA states that the “Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations” is March 31, negotiations to be complete for selected applicants, however this date is not considered an award
156 8/12/2022 Other 2023. Please confirm if this date should be considered as the award start date. "start" date.

1. If we’re proposing a change to the heat and power input (only) of an ethanol plant do we need to
diagram the entire generation-1 ethanol process for the partnering plant?
157 8/12/2022 Technical Topics 2. Does the pre-pilot need to be located on site with an ethanol plant?
1.Yes you will need to diagram the whole process to show key points where heat and power would be
required to ensure realistic load scenarios for the facilities you would be servicing.
2. The pre-pilot does not have to be located on site at an ethanol plant but the final models will have to
show how the heat and power would be delivered to a plant in a real world scenario.

It is assumed that this question is being asked with respect to the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) section of the topic area which states, “Construction of new facilities will not be allowed in
With respect to Section I.B.vii. of the FOA (Subtopic Area 2b), please confirm if the off-site fabrication Budget Period 1. Any construction activities will be restricted to Budget Period 2.” As such no on-site or
of specialty equipment or process trains prior to any onsite construction is considered “construction of off-site construction or fabrication can take place under the award until after a final NEPA
158 8/12/2022 Other new facilities”. determination has been made as these actions are considered irreversible action.
When preparing our SOPO (for a 3a application) we are unclear whether or not a performance test is
required or just a verification of the test data. Is it just that DOE needs to confirm the benchmark data
159 8/16/2022 Technical Topics or do a full performance test run? Please refer to the answer under Question #116 above.

For Area 1a, there is a requirement of 500 hr of lab testing. If the project intends to use biogas as the Mock or ideal feedstocks and process streams are not allowable. Per section I.D – Applications
feedstock (~8MMBTU/day), can the feedstock be a simulated biogas mixture with H4 and CO2 or must Specifically Not of Interest, “Applications proposing mock or ideal feedstocks and process streams” are
160 8/17/2022 Technical Topics the biogas be naturally produced from the decomposition of organic waste? not of interest.
 Please see the Budget Justification form template > Contractual tab, located on the EERE Exchange
website under the FOA 2638 for more information on the definition of subrecipient, and it's role vs a
Vendor on a project, as well as the threshold required for a subrecipient to submit a separate budget
justification under an application submission."A subrecipient is a legal entity to which a subaward is
Who does DOE consider to be a subrecipient? For example the primary recipient is a company that will made, who has performance measured against whether the objectives of the Federal program are met,
contract with a technology provider (not owned by the primary recipient). Is the technology provider is responsible for programmatic decision making, must adhere to applicable Federal program
161 8/17/2022 Other considered a subrecipient and do they need to provide their own budget? compliance requirements, and uses the Federal funds to carry out a program of the organization."

If one of the non-federal entities purchases equipment after a funding agreement is signed, and then Please see answer to question #152 above, as well as 2CFR200.306 (h-i); 2CFR200.465; 2CFR910.360
enters into a sale-and lease-back/rental agreement arrangement, would the equipment be subject to and 2CFR200.310 – 200.316 as these regulations apply to both the rental and lease of equipment, as
162 8/18/2022 Other the disposition requirements as described in Section IV.J.vi. of the FOA? well as disposition instructions for purchased equipment with project funds.

I am submitting an application under Topic Area 3B and noticed that the EERE Exchange Portal on the
Upload and Submit tab includes a row for a Risk Mitigation Plan. The description on this tab states:
"Topic Areas 2 and 3 will utilize a Risk Mitigation Plan (RMP). The RMP will be utilized to assess not
only the risks included, but more importantly the risks that are omitted from the RMP. This will allow
reviewers to further understand the readiness of the Applicant to proceed into either a pilot or
demonstration project. Please refer to the PDF titled, “Risk Mitigation Template” available for
download from EERE Exchange for the Risk Mitigation Plan instructions, overview, and recommended
templates. Use of the template is not required, however equivalent data must be submitted with Topic
Areas 2 and 3 applications."
This contradicts the official FOA which describes a Risk Mitigation Plan as one of several deliverables
that may be required for "projects selected under Subtopic Area 2b and 3b to move out of Budget
Period 1 (Verification of Design Package) into Budget Period 2 (Project Execution - complete final
design and construction), key deliverables must be provided to EERE for review in order to show
project readiness prior to moving into Phase 2." (see page 146 of the FOA). This seems to indicate a For Topic Areas 2a and 3a, a Risk Mitigation Plan (RMP) is not required as part of the application as it
Risk Mitigation Plan is required after a project is selected. will be developed as part of the Phase 1 project. For Topic Areas 2b and 3b, the RMP is not a
requirement in the initial application, but a requirement to have in hand upon award (if selected) and it
Additionally, the Risk Mitigation Plan template is not among the solicitation files available for will be verified in BP1. There is no template available at this time for the RMP, and this language has
163 8/18/2022 download under this solicitation as the description in the EERE Exchange portal described. been revised on the EERE Exchange site.

Topic 1b. question:

Is an engineered process for biofixation of dissolved inorganic carbon into algal biomass from surface
waters considered a direct air-CO2 capture process, if these waters subsequently take-up and/or
previously have taken-up ambient air-CO2 through normal (unassisted) equilibrium gas transfer? Such
surface waters would include contaminated (e.g. with N, P, etc.) storm-, brackish-, or ocean waters. In
164 8/23/2022 Technical Topics the engineered process, the algal biomass would be harvested and used for biofuels and bioproducts. Yes, that is correct.

On pages 82 and 83 of the FOA under “Resumes,” applicants are required to submit a one-page
resume. Alternatively, its says that a biographical sketch can be used however, the NSF SciENcv
standard format export is a two-page document. If a PI chooses to submit a biographical sketch can
165 8/23/2022 Application Content/Format they use the two-page format or do they need to figure out how to reduce the sketch to one-page? Additional pages as referenced in the NSF biographical sketch are allowable for resume files.
For Subtopic Area 2b: Pilot Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries (Final Design and Construction), are
166 8/25/2022 Technical Topics applicants allowed to use railroad ties as feedstock? Rail road tie would be considered C&D waste which is allowable under this FOA.

If additional rows are needed, a specific tab in the budget may be editable by selecting "unprotect
sheet", then rows may be added, then proteting the sheet after edits are made. Please note, it is not
I cannot seem to add rows to give detailed justification of the construction costs. Inserting a row is not advised to edit the form, as there are key formulas contained in the spreadsheet. If any desired edits
167 8/26/2022 Application Content/Format possible in the form provided. Can you send me one that is editable, in this fashion? (as in adding rows) are desired, please note the exisitng formula-contained cells/rows.

I am attempting to obtain a SAM Unique Entity ID so I can register with SAM, however the system is
indicating the process for the UEI confirmation may take a while, putting us past the September 8th
168 8/26/2022 Other timeframe. Can you use the DUN number until the final SAM number is assigned?
Please see FOA Section VI.B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements for the Registration
Requirements and Award Administrative Requirements for this FOA and FOA section IV.G relating to
UEI instructions. Applicants are required to have an active registration in SAM and a UEI number for a
Full Application Submission to this FOA. We cannot use a DUNS# in lieu of the UEI number. The
obtaining of UEI # in some cases may take some time, however please keep checking the status of the
request with the SAM.gov service desk.

This section of the topic area is referring to “requirements [that] must be addressed in the application
and the strength of the Applicant’s discussion will be evaluated by the independent technical review
panel for engineering and scientific merit”. As such the level of TEA and LCA discussed in the
application given the page limits and other requirements is up to the applicant. Please note, per the
topic areas that “All Subtopic Area 2b projects will be subject to an initial verification effort to review
their full design package and will result in a Go/No-Go decision”. Meaning that if selected DOE will
verify the completeness of the full design package as outline in Appendix I which includes, “An updated
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) showing that the biofuel(s) and bioproducts(s) meet or exceed the 70% GHG
reduction requirement and describe how the proposed project presents a significant LCA improvement
over competing technologies” and “A Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) that clearly shows how the
Page 32 of the FOA states that applications must contain techno-economic and life cycle analyses for pioneer (1st commercial scale) and follow-on mature commercial facilities, should they become
Subtopic Area 2b. Please confirm techno-economic and life cycle data are required with applications operational, would result in substantive and measurable reductions in the cost of producing drop-in
169 8/30/2022 Other (by September 9th, 2022). hydrocarbon biofuels and bioproducts”.

Regarding forms SF-424 and SFLLL, in the case of an applicant who is a foreign subsidiary of a US-based
firm (applying through the Foreign Work Waiver process) should the ‘prime applicant’ and ‘applicant’ The SF424 and SF-LLL should be completed listing the US-based firm information, notably the SF424
listed be the US-based firm? Or the foreign-based subsidiary? Some information requested, such as form will need to list an active Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number for a US - based entity, as
170 8/31/2022 Other congressional district, is not applicable for the foreign-based subsidiary. registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) system.
If an applicant is awarded Topic 3a – Phase One and down-selected for Phase Two, can expenses for
Phase Two be taken at risk for reimbursement if they occur after Phase One selection, but before the
171 9/2/2022 Other Phase down-select? No, costs prior to any down-select may not be incurred.

The procedure is to download the documents from Exchange vs. receiving them by email or another
method. The Exchange Help Desk advises: "It seems to be an error with the web browser or the Adobe
software on the user’s computer. Users are advised to close their web browser and then open a
I am having issues with downloaded files from EERE Exchange not opening, and error messages different web browser to navigate to the Exchange website to open/download the document." If that
172 9/2/2022 Other occuring referring to "corrupt" files. doesn't work, please contact the help desk at ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov for assistance.

An entity has provided letters of support for a handful of different entities submitting proposals for
DOE FOA 2638. In most instances, the entity only provides said letters of support. In some select
instances, the entity intends on also providing financial commitment/support to help our strategic
partners with the cost share requirements for this FOA. Will DOE infer a "strategic preference" for
those projects where we hae committed to cost share vs those we have only provided a letter of
173 9/2/2022 Other support? DOE will not make such preference determinations, as all projects are competivetly selected.
I have tried several times to open the 424 form on the Exchange but no luck. Can you send me the
174 9/6/2022 Other form via email? DOE cannot sent forms via email. Please see the response to Question #172 above.

Table 11 lists throughput equivalent minimum requirements for Subtopic Area 4b. The throughput
requirement is listed in Dry Tons Per Day (DTPD, typically used for lingo-cellulosic feedstock), 8
MMBTU/day for biogas, and 35 gallons/day for processes that utilize CO2 as a feed. For process
improvements to a typical corn ethanol conversion pathways that do not incorporate CO2 as a feed is
35 gallons/day an acceptable minimum throughput equivalent? If not, what would be the appropriate Yes, if your technology cannot fit into the other throughput equivalent categories 35 gallons per day
175 9/6/2022 Technical Topics throughput equivalent in this case? may be utilized as your minimum throughput.

We are applying to Topic 2b for BETO SCALEUP+. In the FOA, the only mention of a Risk Mitigation Plan
is within Appendix I, which is information to be provided at the end of Budget Period 1 (Preliminary
Design Requirements).
However, in the EERE submission portal, there is a place to upload a Risk Mitigation Plan, but no
details on length or formatting requirements.
Please see the answer to #163 above. For Topic Areas 2b and 3b, the RMP is not a requirement in the
Is the RMP required in the full application or during Budget Period 1? If it is required in the full initial application, but a requirement to have in hand upon award (if selected) and it will be verified in
176 9/6/2022 Other application, are any details required for length of formatting? BP1. There is no template available at this time for the RMP

Full Applications MUST be submitted through the DE-FOA-0002638 FOA listing on the EERE Exchange
website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/, and cannot be submitted via email, or any other
method of submission. Please see the FOA document also listed on the EERE Exchange website for
more information on due dates, etc. Please also note per the cover page of the FOA, "Applicants must
submit a Concept Paper by 5PM ET on the due date specified in the table listed above [due date table
I have scoured the application information and eere-exchange and cannot find the portal through referenced] to be eligibile to submit a full application." Please note, the submission deadline for
177 9/7/2022 Other which I submit the full application. Can someone tell me where that is? Concept Papers was 07/08/2022 5PM ET.
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