Request for Information (RFI)- Biological Approaches for Developing a New Nitrogen Cycle in Agriculture for Bioenergy Crops | DE FOA 0003199

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003199

This notice is a Request for Information (RFI) from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) titled "Biological Approaches for Developing a New Nitrogen Cycle in Agriculture for Bioenergy Crops" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003199). It is not a funding opportunity announcement and it is not accepting applications for financial assistance. No awards are planned under this notice (award ceiling listed as $0 and expected awards listed as 0). The only purpose is to gather technical and stakeholder input that could shape a future ARPA-E program.

The core topic is how to cut both nitrogen fertilizer inputs and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils when producing major bioenergy-relevant row crops, specifically corn, soybean, and sorghum. ARPA-E is exploring the idea that a "new nitrogen cycle" for these crops could be enabled through biological innovations rather than primarily through changes in farm management practices. The focus is on technologies that could reduce reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, which are energy-intensive to manufacture and can contribute to downstream environmental impacts, while also addressing N2O, a potent greenhouse gas commonly associated with nitrogen transformations in agricultural soils.

The RFI outlines two main technical goal areas for a potential program concept. The first is the development and evaluation of high-efficacy, lower energy alternatives to conventional synthetic fertilizer. Examples of the types of approaches ARPA-E is signaling interest in include microbial fertilization strategies (such as engineered or selected microbes that improve nitrogen availability to plants), improvements to plant traits tied to nitrogen use efficiency (so crops produce comparable yields with less nitrogen input), and enabling tools that could support autogenic N2 fixation, meaning crops or crop-associated systems that can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) more directly, reducing the need for applied fertilizer.

The second goal area is reducing soil-based N2O emissions during cultivation by altering the soil microbial nitrogen cycle. This could be achieved through microbial approaches (for instance, shifting microbial communities or functions that drive nitrification and denitrification pathways linked to N2O production) and/or plant approaches (such as plant traits that influence root exudates, rhizosphere conditions, or nitrogen uptake dynamics in ways that reduce the microbial processes that generate N2O). In other words, the program concept is interested in intervening in the biological drivers of nitrogen transformations in soil, not just adjusting timing, placement, or rate of fertilizer application.

ARPA-E is explicitly seeking input from a wide range of technical experts who could inform what is scientifically plausible and what breakthroughs might be needed. The target respondent communities include molecular biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, bioengineers, soil scientists, crop breeders, crop geneticists, and plant scientists, along with others who have relevant expertise in the nitrogen cycle, plant-microbe interactions, and biological engineering. At the same time, ARPA-E is also looking for practical feedback from prospective end-users and market participants who would ultimately adopt or enable these technologies, including growers of corn, soybean, and sorghum, seed producers, agronomists, farm monitoring and equipment companies, biofuel stakeholders, and participants across nitrogen fertilizer supply chains.

A key boundary in the notice is that ARPA-E wants ideas centered on biological approaches rather than management-based approaches. That means the RFI is less about conventional best practices (like optimized fertilizer scheduling, cover crops, or field operations) and more about biology-driven solutions such as engineered microbes, modified plant traits, or new biological systems that change how nitrogen is supplied and cycled. The agency is using the RFI to understand the state of the art, identify major technical bottlenecks, surface promising research directions, and gauge how solutions might be deployed at scale in real agricultural settings.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary and linked to research and development activity (Science and Technology and other R&D), with CFDA number 81.135, and eligibility is listed as unrestricted since it is an information request rather than a competitive award. The original closing date for responses was November 27, 2023, and the full RFI details were posted through ARPA-E's funding opportunity site at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. The bottom line is that this is a listening and market/technology scouting step by ARPA-E, intended to shape a potential future program aimed at biologically reducing fertilizer demand and cutting N2O emissions in major bioenergy crop systems.

• The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the oz, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI)- Biological Approaches for Developing a New Nitrogen Cycle in Agriculture for Bioenergy Crops" 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 2023-11-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-11-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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