Progression of Net-Zero Emission Propulsion Technologies for the Off-Road Sector | DE FOA 0003353

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003353

The opportunity titled "Progression of Net-Zero Emission Propulsion Technologies for the Off-Road Sector" (DE-FOA-0003353) is not a traditional grant solicitation, but a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), managed through the Golden Field Office. Its purpose is to gather input from industry and other stakeholders to help shape a national approach to decarbonizing off-road equipment and to inform future research priorities, infrastructure planning, and coordination across the supply chain. Although it appears in grant-style listings, it does not provide funding, does not anticipate awards, and EERE is not accepting applications under this notice.

This RFI is rooted in a broader federal push that began with a September 2022 memorandum of understanding signed by the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency to accelerate an affordable and equitable clean transportation transition. That interagency effort produced the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, which sets a national target of net-zero carbon emissions across the entire transportation sector by 2050, explicitly including off-road equipment. The RFI frames the off-road transition as a complex, supply-chain-wide challenge that involves feedstock availability, alternative fuel production, equipment design and manufacturing, safety and codes, customer adoption and operating needs, and the regulatory environment.

A central theme of the RFI is that the off-road sector is not one uniform market. "Off-road vehicles" are described as a wide and diverse set of machines designed primarily to operate away from existing roadways, spanning construction and mining equipment, industrial equipment, agricultural machinery, lawn and garden equipment, and recreational vehicles. Because these applications vary dramatically in duty cycle, load profile, refueling patterns, operating environment, and ownership structure, the RFI signals that there may not be a single dominant technology that works across all segments. Instead, DOE is trying to understand which solutions fit best in which use cases and what would need to happen to scale them.

To build a national strategy, the RFI highlights three core questions it wants stakeholders to address. First, it asks for a clearer picture of the current state of the off-road fleet, which can include what equipment is in operation today, typical service life, replacement cycles, and where the highest emissions and fuel consumption occur. Second, it asks which powertrain and propulsion technologies appear most promising for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from off-road vehicles. Third, it seeks realistic perspectives on the timeline and pathway for the sector to transition to net-zero greenhouse gas technologies by 2050, including what milestones are plausible along the way.

The RFI specifically lists the propulsion technology pathways it wants feedback on: biodiesel, renewable diesel, renewable natural gas, battery electric systems, direct electrification such as catenary or other forms of conductive power delivery, electric hybridization, hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines, and hydrogen fuel cells. By putting drop-in and low-carbon liquid fuels alongside full electrification and hydrogen options, the RFI is implicitly asking stakeholders to weigh near-term deployability, infrastructure readiness, cost and performance tradeoffs, and the practical constraints of off-road worksites. It also emphasizes that no single alternative propulsion option has emerged as the clear best choice for the entire sector, which is why DOE is attempting to aggregate experience and data from across manufacturers, fleet operators, fuel providers, researchers, utilities, and other affected parties.

From a participation standpoint, the key takeaway is that anyone can respond, since eligibility is listed as unrestricted, but respondents are providing information rather than seeking funds. Responses were required to be submitted electronically by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on June 7, 2024, by emailing CleanMachines@ee.doe.gov with the response attached. DOE indicated a preference for responses in Microsoft Word (.docx) with a 10-page limit and/or Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), and recommended compressing attachments over 25 MB to ensure delivery. The full RFI text is available through the EERE Exchange site, and it is explicitly labeled as an RFI rather than a Funding Opportunity Announcement.

In practical terms, this RFI functions as a market and technology intelligence-gathering step that can influence what the federal government prioritizes next, including potential future funding opportunities, demonstrations, standards and safety work, and planning for fueling and charging infrastructure. For stakeholders in off-road equipment and fuels, the value is in shaping the government's understanding of what is technically feasible, what is cost-effective, what barriers are most binding (for example, energy density, refueling time, cold-weather performance, worksite power availability, safety codes, maintenance workforce readiness, or fuel logistics), and what policy or research actions would most accelerate progress toward the 2050 net-zero goal.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Progression of Net-Zero Emission Propulsion Technologies for the Off-Road Sector" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-05-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0003353

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: