Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC) | DE FOA 0003518

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003518

The Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC) funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0003518) is a U.S. Department of Energy notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) administered through DOE's Golden Field Office under CFDA 81.087 (Energy). It will provide discretionary funding using cooperative agreements, which typically means DOE expects to be actively involved during the project period through collaboration, technical engagement, and oversight. The program sits within DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and is aligned with BETO's Conversion research and development priorities, with an emphasis on turning domestic biomass and waste resources into commercially relevant fuels and chemicals. The core idea is to strengthen U.S. supply chains and energy independence while creating economic opportunities (including rural economic benefits) and improving the global competitiveness of U.S. industry by expanding production of renewable, domestically sourced chemicals and propane/LPG.

SPARC is organized into two technical topic areas. Topic Area 1, Bio-based Chemicals, supports the development and adoption of new production methods that convert biomass into value-added chemicals. In practical terms, projects under this topic would be expected to advance conversion technologies, process pathways, catalysts, organisms, separations, or integrated biorefinery concepts that can produce chemical intermediates or end products with market value, with an eye toward scalability and eventual industry adoption. Topic Area 2, Bio-based Propane/LPG, is focused specifically on creating new pathways to produce sustainable liquefied propane and/or liquefied petroleum gases from renewable and waste-derived feedstocks. The NOFO highlights a broad set of potential feedstocks for this work, including municipal solid waste and related waste streams, agricultural residues, forest resources, and fats, oils, and grease, signaling that DOE is interested in approaches that can work with diverse and widely available domestic inputs rather than relying on a narrow feedstock base.

From a funding and scale perspective, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $2,500,000 per award and anticipates making about 12 awards. Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status); individuals; for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); small businesses; and other eligible entities. One important participation rule called out is that DOE/NNSA federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) may participate only as subrecipients, not as the primary applicant/recipient.

The application process uses DOE's EERE eXCHANGE platform (eere-exchange.energy.gov), and the NOFO stresses that the system enforces hard deadlines: once the deadline passes, the APPLY and SUBMIT buttons disable automatically. Applicants must submit a required concept paper by March 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, and full applications are due May 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time (the original closing date listed for the opportunity is also May 30, 2025). For teaming and partnership-building, DOE points applicants to a Teaming Partner List created in connection with the Notice of Intent (search DE-FOA-0003517 in eXCHANGE), specifically Teaming Partner List TPL-0000064, which is meant to help organizations find collaborators and form project teams.

For questions about the FOA, DOE directs applicants to email sparcnofo@hq.doe.gov. If an applicant experiences technical issues with eXCHANGE prior to the deadline, they are instructed to contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk at exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov for assistance, with additional support available from the EERE eXCHANGE system administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov). If technical difficulties cause a late submission, DOE indicates it will only consider accepting a late application when the problem was beyond the applicant's control, the applicant contacted the helpdesk for assistance, and the application is submitted through eXCHANGE within 24 hours after the posted deadline, with the helpdesk/system administrators able to assist in finalizing the submission (with the applicant's concurrence).

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-05-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for DE FOA 0003518

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