Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT)
Applications close Dec 1, 2026
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- Agency
- Golden Field Office
- Opportunity number
- DE-FOA-0003647
- Posted
- Sep 4, 2026
- Closes
- Dec 1, 2026
- Award ceiling
- $20,000,000
- Award floor
- $2,000,000
- Estimated program funding
- $58,000,000
- Cost sharing required
- true
About this opportunity
Modification 000002:
Updated Appendix A and the definition of “Construction and demolition waste”, also denoted as “C&D Waste”, to align with the programmatic authorizing statute for the Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office listed in NOFO Part 1, Section III.G. Statutory Authority.
• “Construction and demolition waste,” for the purposes of this NOFO and consistent with the statutory authorities1, refers to waste organic materials from buildings, roads and bridges, and other sectors, but not included in municipal solid waste. It includes wood waste materials, including waste pallets, crates, dunnage, manufacturing and construction wood wastes (other than pressure-treated, chemically-treated, or painted wood wastes), and landscape or right-of-way tree trimmings.
Updated Section III.D. Key Requirements and Section III.F. Applications Specifically Not of Interest to specify that target chemicals should have global annual markets or potential markets of at least 1 million metric tons.
• Previously this metric was given as U.S. production of at least 1 million metric tons.
Modification 000001:
Moved the application content requirement for Letter(s) of Commitment (LOCs) from Stage 2 to Stage 1.
• Added a clause in Section III.D indicating that LOCs are to be submitted with Stage 1 applications.
• Updated the summary table in Section IV.D.2 to reflect the above (added Stage 1 LOC requirement)
• Updated the summary table in Section IV.E.1 to reflect the above (added “(as needed, in addition to Stage 1 submittals)”).
DOE CMEI is dedicated to securing America’s energy future by reinforcing domestic critical mineral supply chains, driving next-generation energy technology and manufacturing research, and promoting affordable, consumer-friendly solutions. CMEI’s AFFO is issuing this ASPECT NOFO, DE-FOA-0003647, to support research, development, and pre-pilot testing of innovative technologies that produce chemicals from alternative and waste feedstocks, mobilizing America’s abundant alternative feedstocks resources.
The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to advance promising chemical technologies that utilize alternative feedstocks through multiple levels of maturity and, in some cases, to pre-pilot scale. To accomplish this, the NOFO is divided into two topic areas, each divided into two subtopic areas designed to provide different on-ramps for technologies at different stages of development.
Who can apply
As one of the main goals of this NOFO is to move technologies quickly to market, participation of the following entities is limited as follows: Institutions of higher education are eligible to participate as a recipient or subrecipient for Topic Area 1 but are only eligible to participate as a subrecipient for Topic Area 2. Provided there is no conflict of interest, DOE FFRDCs3 are eligible to apply for funding as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. Non-DOE FFRDCs are eligible to participate as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. Federal agencies and instrumentalities (other than DOE) are eligible to participate as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply as recipients. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is eligible to apply as a subrecipient, not as prime recipient.
How to apply
- 1Register your organization
Applications are submitted by your institution, not individuals. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration (with a UEI) and a Grants.gov account with an Authorized Organization Representative.
- 2Read the full notice
Open the official notice for the complete eligibility rules, review criteria, page limits, and required forms. Applications close Dec 1, 2026.
- 3Download the application package
From the Grants.gov opportunity page, download the package (or apply via your agency's system where required) and prepare each component.
- 4Build and submit
Prepare the budget and narrative, route for institutional sign-off, and submit before the deadline: GrantsManager can track every step for you.
Agency contact: Golden Field Office · ASPECT@doe.gov
Details are pulled from Grants.gov and can change, always confirm against the official notice. GrantsManager isn't affiliated with these agencies.
Resources for applying
All DOE grants and resources- Proposal submission checklist
A pre-submission checklist for research proposals: solicitation review, internal routing, budget, compliance, and sponsor-system steps to hit the deadline cleanly.
- Direct vs. indirect costs
The difference between direct and indirect costs on research grants, with examples of each, the gray areas like administrative salaries, and how indirect costs are calculated from your F&A rate.
- Reading your Notice of Award
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- Grant Budget Template
A five-year research grant budget in Excel that calculates fringe, the NIH salary cap, the MTDC base, and F&A automatically.
- Budget Justification Template
A free budget justification (budget narrative) template for research grants, organized by the federal R&R budget categories, with example language for personnel, fringe, equipment, travel, other direct costs, subawards, and F&A.
- Grant Letter of Intent Template
A free grant letter of intent (LOI) template with two versions: the short NIH letter of intent requested in many funding opportunities, and a foundation LOI that pitches the project before a full proposal.
- Letter of Support Template for Grant Applications
A free letter of support template for NIH and other research grant applications, with collaborator and consultant versions, what NIH asks letters to include, and how NIH's move to letters of collaboration affects them.
- F&A & MTDC calculator
Build the Modified Total Direct Cost base, apply your F&A rate, and see total direct costs, indirect costs, and the full award total, with the usual MTDC exclusions handled.
- Grant burn rate
Compare the share of a grant spent and encumbered with the share of the award period elapsed, see the average monthly burn, the monthly spend needed to finish on budget, and the projected run-out date.
- DOE PAMS
Department of Energy Office of Science proposal submission.
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