Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio) | DE FOA 0002387

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002387

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) released the Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio) funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0002387) to push biomanufacturing beyond the normal limitations of fermentation. The core idea is to develop bioconversion technologies that keep far more of the carbon in the feedstock ending up in useful products instead of being lost as carbon dioxide. In conventional fermentation, organisms often vent a noticeable share of carbon as CO2 while balancing their internal chemistry and energy needs. ECOSynBio is aimed at breaking that tradeoff by enabling systems that can take in "external reducing equivalents" (essentially added electrons or reducing power supplied from outside the organism or process) so they can make products more efficiently without having to burn carbon off as CO2.

A central requirement of the opportunity is improved carbon efficiency that is tied directly to this use of external reducing power. The solicitation emphasizes that projects must show they can accommodate these external reducing equivalents in a way that makes the overall process outperform traditional fermentation in carbon and energy terms. In practical terms, ARPA-E is looking for systems where more of the input carbon is retained in the products and, importantly, where the sum of the recoverable energy content of the products is greater than the energy content of the biomass or primary carbon feedstock. That statement signals an intention to support bioprocesses that effectively "upgrade" feedstocks by adding externally supplied energy (through reducing equivalents), rather than only redistributing the energy already present in the feedstock.

ECOSynBio highlights several example technical approaches, while also leaving room for other creative "carbon optimized" concepts. One area of interest is carbon-optimized fermentation strains engineered to avoid CO2 evolution. This points to redesigning microbial metabolism so that pathways typically used to shed excess carbon as CO2 are replaced with pathways that conserve carbon into target molecules. Another approach is engineered mixotrophic consortia or systems that avoid CO2 evolution. Mixotrophy generally refers to organisms or communities that can use multiple carbon and/or energy sources (for example, combining organic substrates with CO2 assimilation), and ARPA-E is signaling interest in designed microbial communities or coupled systems that can leverage that flexibility to keep carbon in the product slate. A third highlighted concept is biomass or gas fermentation with internal CO2 utilization, meaning processes that capture and reuse CO2 produced within the system rather than releasing it, potentially by routing it back into fixation pathways or carboxylation reactions. The opportunity also includes cell-free carbon optimized biocatalytic biomass conversion and/or CO2 utilization, which broadens the scope beyond living cells to enzymatic or cell-free synthetic biology platforms that may avoid some of the biological constraints that force CO2 release. Finally, ARPA-E explicitly invites cross-cutting or other carbon-optimized bioconversion schemes, which is a way of encouraging hybrid approaches that combine elements like electrochemistry, metabolic engineering, systems biology, reactor design, and process integration.

From an administrative standpoint, ECOSynBio was offered as a discretionary funding opportunity using cooperative agreements, grants, and other award instruments under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, with CFDA number 81.135. Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning the program was broadly open to different kinds of applicants (universities, companies, national labs, nonprofits, and others), subject to any additional eligibility details in the full announcement. The opportunity was created on September 10, 2020, with concept papers due by October 26, 2020, and applicants were encouraged to submit 48 hours before the deadline. ARPA-E anticipated making about 12 awards, with an award ceiling of $7,000,000 per project, indicating an interest in relatively ambitious, high-impact R&D efforts rather than small exploratory grants.

Overall, ECOSynBio is best read as an ARPA-E push to redefine what "efficient" bioconversion looks like by coupling biology (or biocatalysis) to externally supplied reducing power. The program is not just about incremental strain improvements; it is about re-engineering the carbon and electron economy of bioprocesses so that CO2 is minimized or internally recycled, carbon utilization is maximized, and product energy can exceed the inherent energy of the original carbon feedstock because the process is deliberately energized from the outside.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 10, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 26, 2020 Concept Papers due 10/26/2020. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit 48 hours in advance of the deadline.. (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 $7,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002387

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