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Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) (SBIR/STTR)
To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.
To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx).
For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx).
ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means.
For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line).
Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq.
For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov.
Agency Overview:
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L.
110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L.
111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L.
116-260) to:
“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C.
§ 1653 8. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R.
Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R.
Part 91 0. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department.
The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology.
For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see:
http://arpa-e.energy.gov/.
ARPA-E funds transformational research.
Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion.
This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE.
By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves.
ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology.
Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology.
ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace.
The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration.
Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets.
ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies.
Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale.
ARPA-E funds applied research and development.
The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”1 Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”)2 should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/).
Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees.
These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere.
Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including:
the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity).
Program Overview:
The Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) program’s aim is to support the development of commercial-ready technologies that give the United States a net-zero or net negative emissions pathway toward increased domestic supplies of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical elements required for the transition to clean energy.
The lack of a secure domestic supply of these minerals poses a significant supply chain risk for the United States, especially with regard to batteries, renewable energy generation, and transmission.
Meanwhile, the domestic mining industry faces the rapid depletion of high-profit deposits, increased cost of mining and processing, expensive management, and accumulation of tailings, resulting in an overall reduced return of investment by conventional mining methods.
Consequently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with objectives to support the development of technology and approaches to:
(1) decrease comminution energy by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; (2) increase yield of energy-relevant minerals by reducing unrecovered energy-relevant minerals in the tailings by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; and (3) enabling the negative emissions production of key minerals by sequestering >10 wt.% CO2e per metric ton of ore processed.
Four categories have been identified as necessary to achieve these goals and are discussed in detail later:
I.
Mineral comminution II.
Improvements to beneficiation and processing to increase mineral yield III.
Carbon negative reactions IV.
Sensing, analyzing and enabling carbonation potential and mineralization This FOA supports the development of viable technologies to achieve these goals cost-effectively with the potential to reach commercial scalability.
Identified within this FOA are technical categories of interest in Section I.G.
Also provided within this FOA are performance targets for the technical categories of interest in Section I.H.
Lastly, Sections I.I and I.J of the FOA provide information on technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) requirements, respectively.
To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.
To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx).
For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx).
ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means.
For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line).
Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq.
For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov.
Agency Overview:
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L.
110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L.
111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L.
116-260) to:
“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C.
§ 1653 8. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R.
Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R.
Part 91 0. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department.
The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology.
For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see:
http://arpa-e.energy.gov/.
ARPA-E funds transformational research.
Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion.
This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE.
By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves.
ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology.
Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology.
ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace.
The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration.
Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets.
ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies.
Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale.
ARPA-E funds applied research and development.
The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”1 Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”)2 should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/).
Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees.
These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere.
Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including:
the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity).
Program Overview:
The Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) program’s aim is to support the development of commercial-ready technologies that give the United States a net-zero or net negative emissions pathway toward increased domestic supplies of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical elements required for the transition to clean energy.
The lack of a secure domestic supply of these minerals poses a significant supply chain risk for the United States, especially with regard to batteries, renewable energy generation, and transmission.
Meanwhile, the domestic mining industry faces the rapid depletion of high-profit deposits, increased cost of mining and processing, expensive management, and accumulation of tailings, resulting in an overall reduced return of investment by conventional mining methods.
Consequently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with objectives to support the development of technology and approaches to:
(1) decrease comminution energy by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; (2) increase yield of energy-relevant minerals by reducing unrecovered energy-relevant minerals in the tailings by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; and (3) enabling the negative emissions production of key minerals by sequestering >10 wt.% CO2e per metric ton of ore processed.
Four categories have been identified as necessary to achieve these goals and are discussed in detail later:
I.
Mineral comminution II.
Improvements to beneficiation and processing to increase mineral yield III.
Carbon negative reactions IV.
Sensing, analyzing and enabling carbonation potential and mineralization This FOA supports the development of viable technologies to achieve these goals cost-effectively with the potential to reach commercial scalability.
Identified within this FOA are technical categories of interest in Section I.G.
Also provided within this FOA are performance targets for the technical categories of interest in Section I.H.
Lastly, Sections I.I and I.J of the FOA provide information on technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) requirements, respectively.
To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.
Related Programs
Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program
Department of Energy
Agency: Department of Energy
Office: Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy
Estimated Funding: $44,000,000
Office: Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy
Estimated Funding: $44,000,000
Obtain Full Opportunity Text:
ARPA-E eXCHANGE
Additional Information of Eligibility:
DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernment organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses.
DRL’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be some occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.
Full Opportunity Web Address:
https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov
Contact:
Agency Email Description:
Click to email contact
Agency Email:
Date Posted:
2022-02-24
Application Due Date:
Archive Date:
2022-10-21
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