The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing to offer up to $60 million to accelerate domestic production of alternative fuels, chemicals, fertilizers and feedstocks, with a focus on technologies that can leverage existing American infrastructure and resources.

The DOE’s Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO) announced its intent to issue a funding opportunity aimed at scaling up innovative technologies, strengthening domestic supply chains and expanding energy production and distribution.

The initiative supports President Donald J. Trump’s executive order, Unleashing American Energy, which calls for affordable, reliable domestic energy production and stronger supply chains to help lower costs for American consumers, farmers, ranchers and small businesses.

The funding opportunity, titled Leveraging Domestic Infrastructure and Resources to Unleash Alternative Chemicals, Fuels, and Feedstocks, is expected to target research, development and scale-up projects built around domestic biomass, hydrogen and pipeline infrastructure.

Three priority areas targeted

AFFO expects to issue a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) in November 2026, covering three technology areas designed to move alternative feedstocks and energy technologies closer to commercial deployment.

Biointermediate depots: Turning biomass and waste into valuable products

The first area will focus on expanding the production of liquid intermediate products derived from biomass and establishing pilot sites to convert biomass and waste into chemicals, sugars, bio-crudes and bio-oils.

Projects will aim to reduce the technical and commercial risks of converting solid materials into liquids while testing the economics of distributed production depots.

Under the proposed hub-and-spoke model, these depots would supply intermediate products to central refineries or biorefineries, where they could be upgraded into finished products.

Refinery integration: Putting existing industrial assets to work

The second area will target the production of commodity chemicals and fuels from alternative feedstocks using existing refinery infrastructure, with the goal of achieving costs that support competitive market pricing.

Research will also explore how intermediate products can be processed within existing refineries and petrochemical facilities.

Potential projects could examine the co-processing of bio-crudes or waste-plastic oils with conventional crude oil, assessing impacts on catalyst life, end-product composition and compatibility with existing plant equipment.

The approach is intended to build on established industrial assets rather than rely solely on entirely new processing infrastructure.

Hydrogen and natural gas blending: Testing pipeline readiness

The third area will support pilot sites to test hydrogen-natural gas blending and the distribution and use of these fuel mixtures.

Projects will assess the reliability, scalability, performance and durability of pipeline networks and components, while examining whether existing infrastructure can accommodate blended fuels.

The work could also help identify workforce requirements associated with hydrogen and natural gas blending.

The pilot sites are intended to serve as an intermediate step before wider commercial-scale deployment. Applicants should plan to use relevant existing assets and submit a business and management plan explaining how facilities will continue operating after DOE funding ends.

The DOE has directed interested parties to its eXCHANGE platform for the notice of intent, DE-FOA-0003648, which provides further information on eligibility and registration requirements