The Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants program will help offset 50% of the costs to states, local governments, and public utilities or agencies to procure and use products developed through the conversion of captured carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions. The commercial or industrial products to be procured and used under these grants must demonstrate a significant net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to incumbent products via a life cycle analysis (LCA). The LCAs are checked for conformance and approved by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

The Energy Future Grants (EFG) provides $27 million in financial and technical assistance to support local, state, and tribal government-led partnership efforts that will advance clean energy program innovation by developing and implementing plans that break new ground in three topic areas: 1) transportation; 2)
power sector; and 3) buildings.

EFG will provide support for at least 50 multijurisdictional teams. Teams will further partner with community benefit organizations to turn innovative ideas into solutions that address barriers to clean energy deployment. EFG solutions will provide measurable benefits to communities and support Justice 40, which directs 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to flow to disadvantaged communities.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program is designed to assist states, local governments, and Tribes in implementing strategies to reduce energy use, to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to improve energy efficiency. Example activities include:

• Development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy if one is not submitted with application
• Development of the energy efficiency and conservation elements of an energy-related plan such as a climate action plan or local or tribal government’s sustainability plan
• Expansion of an existing strategy to address new goals

The goal of the prize is to develop robust, domestic recycling options for fiber-reinforced composites and rare earth elements can lessen the United States’ need to extract and process raw materials, which can, in turn, reduce damage to the environment. Additionally, recycling rare earth elements would safeguard domestic manufacturing by improving resilience to price volatility and supply chain disruption.

During the first phase, Initiate!, competitors will prepare a submission package that highlights a concept for wind material recycling focused on economic and environmental sustainability. Up to 20 winners will be selected to receive $75,000 in cash each and an invitation to compete in the second phase of the competition.

The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program was established in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help fund community-led projects that mitigate physical barriers to mobility and access, such as train tracks or highways. The Inflation Reduction Act established the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program that similarly funds projects that remove physical barriers as well as projects to improve walkability, safety, and affordable transportation access, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) has released a joint Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which will combine the two major discretionary grants into one NOFO.

Under the B2S program, EDA awards and manages a portfolio of grants designed to increase regional capacity to strengthen ecosystems that equitably and inclusively support diverse technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups. These regions are growing technology-driven businesses, creating high-skill, high-wage jobs, and building the industries of the future.

• The Venture Challenge funds organizations that enable startups to become the next generation of globally competitive, industry-leading companies and supports regions in overcoming barriers that prevent would-be innovators from accessing these opportunities.
• Capital Challenge awards provide programmatic and operational support for the formation, launch, or scale of investment funds that seek to provide access to the kinds of capital that enable technology companies to start and scale.

This funding opportunity will invest appropriations of $45 million over three years for development of new solar photovoltaics (PV) technologies to improve U.S. domestic manufacturing and competitiveness and secure our domestic energy supply chains. Topic 1 is focused on demonstration activities that support the domestic silicon PV module supply chain. Topic 2 is focused on RD&D and product development for dual-use PV with the aim of developing these market segments in the United States and increasing deployment. In both Topic Areas, SETO funding aims to retire technical, business, and market risks of solar hardware to validate pathways to commercial success through customer engagement and trials.

The program will support projects to improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of the movement of people and freight, and generate regional economic growth and improve quality of life. Eligible projects for Rural grants include highway, bridge, and tunnel projects that help improve freight, safety, and provide or increase access to an agricultural, commercial, energy, or transportation facilities that support the economy of a rural area.

The program awards competitive grants for multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of freight and people in and across rural and urban areas. Projects will also generate economic benefits, reduce congestion, enhance resiliency, and hold the greatest promise to eliminate supply chain bottlenecks and improve critical freight movements.

The program will provide grants on a competitive basis to support multijurisdictional or regional projects of significance that may also cut across multiple modes of transportation. Eligible projects could include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and related public transportation projects of national and regional significance. DOT will award approximately 50 percent of funding to projects greater than $500 million in cost, and approximately 50 percent to projects greater than $100 million but less than $500 million in cost.

The Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program makes $10 million available over five years to provide states, local governments, and tribal governments with grants to support project development leading to future applications to DOT credit or grant programs. The grants can support the hiring of staff or the procurement of expert firms to provide financial, technical, and legal assistance to help advance infrastructure projects, with development-phase activities, and information regarding innovative financing best practices and case studies.

This FOA seeks applications to expand the impact of DOE’s existing residential weatherization programs by utilizing leveraged resources and enhanced community partnerships to perform deep energy retrofits of low-income residential buildings and empower local community representation within the energy workforce. DOE seeks proposals that drive innovative approaches to program coordination and service delivery, while fostering the collaboration of dynamic and diverse teams.