The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on October 14, 2026, that its Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO) intends to award up to $60 million “to expand domestic energy production and distribution through novel, high-impact chemicals, fertilizers, fuels, and feedstock technologies.” DOE states that it will seek research, development, and scale-up projects that harness existing biomass, hydrogen, and pipeline resources to expand domestic energy production, distribution, and fertilizer technologies. According to DOE, AFFO expects to issue a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) in November 2026, addressing the following topic areas:
- Topic Area 1: Biointermediate Depots — Enhance the production of liquid intermediate-products that are made from biomass and establish pilot sites to produce traditional intermediate products such as high impact chemicals, sugars, bio-crudes, or bio-oils, from biomass and wastes.
- Topic Area 2: Refinery Integration — Advance the production of commodity chemicals and fuels from alternative feedstocks using existing refinery assets and achieving production-costs that enable competitive market pricing.
- Topic Area 3: Pilot Site for Hydrogen/Natural Gas Blending — Establish pilot sites for hydrogen and natural gas blending and the distribution/utilization of those blends to improve the reliability, scalability, suitability, performance and durability of distribution networks.
Following the NOFO announcement, AFFO will host an informational webinar to discuss a new application and review process.
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