DOE’s AFFO Announces Intent to Award Up to $60 Million for Innovative Chemical, Fuel, and Fertilizer Technologies

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.