Introduction:
The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for a potential ARPA-E program focused on the development of technologies to reduce nitrogen inputs and soil-based greenhouse gas emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from the cultivation of bioenergy crops (i.e., corn, soybean, and sorghum). The goals for this programmatic concept include the evaluation of technologies capable of: 1) providing high-efficacy, low energy-intensive alternatives to synthetic fertilizer in agricultural production by advancing microbial fertilization approaches, enhancing plant nitrogen (N) use efficiency-related traits, and developing enabling tools for autogenic N2 fixation; and 2) reducing soil-based N2O emissions in growing these crops by altering the microbial N-cycle either through microbial and/or plant approaches.
ARPA-E seeks input from molecular biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, bioengineers, soil scientists, crop breeders, crop geneticists, plant scientists, and others with potentially relevant expertise. Additionally, ARPA-E is seeking input from prospective end-users of such technologies, including corn/soybean/sorghum growers, seed producers, farm monitoring and equipment companies, agronomists, biofuel stakeholders, and nitrogen fertilizer supply chains. This RFI is focused on soliciting input about biological approaches, rather than management-based approaches, to reduce N-inputs and soil-based emissions of N2O. The questions at the end of this RFI are intended to assist relevant stakeholders in providing input on:
- Biological approaches to reducing synthetic N fertilizer and mitigating N2O emissions, including approaches to genetic modifications of microbes and crops as well as methods to predict and control the activities of soil and root microbiomes.
- Success metrics to quantify the impact of alternative technological approaches compared to synthetic nitrogen supply or mitigating N2O emissions from the cultivation of bioenergy crops.
- Approaches to evaluating technical and technology-to-market feasibility of these strategies.
- Economic factors for large-scale adoption of these new technologies.
Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:
- Work focused on basic research aimed purely at discovery and fundamental knowledge generation.
- Efforts to use microbial fertilization and alter plant nitrogen use efficiency to improve crop yields at current applied N-levels.
- Land management or agronomic practices that can reduce N-inputs and field greenhouse gas emissions.
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.
Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.
Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Monday, November 27.