Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003075
The Department of Energy (DOE), through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), issued a Request for Information (RFI) titled "Facilitating a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative" (Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0003075). Despite being formatted like a federal opportunity listing, this notice is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement and it is not soliciting grant applications. Instead, DOE is gathering feedback from a wide range of stakeholders to help shape future work under the CORE-CM Initiative, which is focused on strengthening U.S. energy, economic, and national security by expanding domestic supplies of rare earth elements and other critical materials.
The central purpose of the RFI is to collect practical input on advancing technologies and approaches that use unconventional and secondary feedstocks to produce rare earth elements (REEs), critical materials (CMs), and novel, high-value nonfuel carbon-based products (CBP). In plain terms, DOE is looking beyond traditional mining and primary ores and is interested in materials that may currently be underused, discarded, or treated as waste, but that could be processed to recover strategic minerals or turned into valuable carbon-based products. This framing signals an emphasis on domestic resource resilience and diversification, especially in supply chains where the United States has vulnerabilities or heavy foreign dependence.
DOE is explicitly seeking responses from industry participants, investors, technology developers, universities, research laboratories, government agencies, Tribal governments, potentially impacted communities, and other interested parties. The inclusion of Tribal governments and impacted communities is notable because it points to DOE interest in grounding future efforts in real-world considerations such as local impacts, community priorities, siting constraints, environmental justice, and workforce or regional economic development. The RFI structure suggests DOE wants to understand both technical feasibility and deployment realities, including what would make projects financeable, scalable, and socially acceptable.
While the listing includes fields commonly associated with grant competitions, several of them are effectively placeholders in the context of an RFI. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary and associated with the "Energy" activity category, with CFDA number 81.089, and it references cooperative agreements as the typical instrument type. However, because DOE is not accepting applications under this notice, there are no expected awards (ExpectedAwards: 0), and the award ceiling and similar fields should not be interpreted as active funding terms. The key actionable detail is that stakeholders were invited to submit information by the original closing date of July 17, 2023, following the creation date of May 17, 2023.
Overall, this RFI is best understood as a market and technical landscape scan to inform DOE decision-making. DOE is trying to identify promising feedstocks, processing pathways, research gaps, commercialization barriers, and partnership opportunities that could accelerate domestic production of REEs and critical minerals, while also enabling new value streams from carbon-bearing materials that are nonfuel in nature. The CORE-CM Initiative angle highlights the strategic intent: develop a stronger domestic critical minerals future by leveraging nontraditional resources and innovative carbon-based product pathways, reducing supply risk, and supporting U.S. industrial competitiveness.Apply for DE FOA 0003075
- The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Facilitating a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
- This funding opportunity was created on May 17, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 17, 2023. (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 $2.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
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FAQs: DOE/NETL RFI - CORE-CM Initiative (DE-FOA-0003075)
1) What is this DOE notice (DE-FOA-0003075)?
It is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), titled "Facilitating a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative."
2) Is this a grant or funding opportunity I can apply to?
No. Although the notice is formatted similarly to a federal funding listing, it is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and it is not soliciting grant applications. DOE is gathering feedback to help shape future work under the CORE-CM Initiative.
3) If this is not a grant competition, what is DOE asking for?
DOE is seeking practical input to inform future decisions. The RFI is meant to collect feedback on technologies, approaches, and real-world considerations for producing rare earth elements (REEs), critical materials (CMs), and novel, high-value nonfuel carbon-based products (CBP), particularly from unconventional and secondary feedstocks.
4) What is the CORE-CM Initiative trying to achieve?
The CORE-CM Initiative is focused on strengthening U.S. energy, economic, and national security by expanding domestic supplies of rare earth elements and other critical materials, and by enabling new value streams from carbon-bearing materials that are nonfuel in nature.
5) What kinds of materials or resources is DOE interested in?
DOE is emphasizing unconventional and secondary feedstocks rather than traditional mining and primary ores. In practical terms, this includes materials that may be underused, discarded, or treated as waste, but could be processed to recover strategic minerals or converted into valuable carbon-based products.
6) What outputs or products does DOE care about in this RFI?
The RFI focuses on advancing pathways to produce:
- Rare earth elements (REEs)
- Critical materials (CMs)
- Novel, high-value nonfuel carbon-based products (CBP)
7) Why is DOE looking beyond traditional mining?
The RFI framing highlights domestic resource resilience and diversification, especially in supply chains where the United States has vulnerabilities or heavy foreign dependence. DOE is scanning for opportunities to reduce supply risk by leveraging nontraditional domestic resources and innovative processing approaches.
8) Who is encouraged to respond to this RFI?
DOE explicitly sought responses from a broad set of stakeholders, including industry participants, investors, technology developers, universities, research laboratories, government agencies, Tribal governments, potentially impacted communities, and other interested parties.
9) Why does the RFI mention Tribal governments and impacted communities?
Their inclusion indicates DOE interest in grounding potential future efforts in real-world considerations such as local impacts, community priorities, siting constraints, environmental justice, and workforce or regional economic development.
10) What kinds of feedback is DOE likely trying to collect?
Based on the notice description, DOE is conducting a market and technical landscape scan to identify promising feedstocks, processing pathways, research gaps, commercialization barriers, and partnership opportunities that could accelerate domestic production of REEs and critical minerals, while enabling carbon-based product value streams.
11) Does this notice make any awards?
No. The listing indicates there are no expected awards (ExpectedAwards: 0), consistent with the fact that this is an RFI and not a solicitation for applications.
12) Are the listed award ceiling and other funding fields active terms?
No. Several fields commonly associated with competitions are effectively placeholders in an RFI context. They should not be interpreted as active funding terms because DOE is not accepting grant applications under this notice.
13) What agency and office are associated with this RFI?
The RFI was issued by DOE through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
14) What is the activity category and CFDA number shown in the listing?
The opportunity is associated with the "Energy" activity category and lists CFDA number 81.089.
15) What funding instrument does the listing reference, even though this is an RFI?
The listing references cooperative agreements as the typical instrument type, but this does not mean cooperative agreements were being awarded under this RFI.
16) What were the key dates for submitting information?
The notice was created on May 17, 2023, and the original closing date for submitting information was July 17, 2023.
17) What is the main takeaway for organizations tracking DOE funding?
This notice is best read as a signal of DOE interest and direction-setting. It is intended to inform future DOE decision-making related to domestic rare earth and critical minerals supply, unconventional and secondary feedstocks, and nonfuel carbon-based product pathways, rather than to fund projects immediately.
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