Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT)
This grant supports research and pre-pilot testing of new chemical technologies that use alternative and waste feedstocks, aiming to advance them toward commercial scale in the U.S. energy and manufacturing sectors.
Funder: Golden Field Office
Due Dates: October 9, 2026 (Required concept paper) | December 1, 2026 (Stage 1) | February 12, 2027 (Stage 2)
Funding Amounts: $58 million total; awards of $2 million–$20 million over approximately 24–60 months
Summary: Supports research, development, and pre-pilot testing of technologies producing chemicals from alternative biomass and waste feedstocks.
Key Information: Every team must include a for-profit industry entity as prime recipient or subrecipient.
Description
The Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO), within Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, runs ASPECT to accelerate chemical production technologies from laboratory research toward integrated pre-pilot operations. The program seeks to strengthen domestic chemical supply chains, improve global competitiveness, and reduce costs for U.S. businesses and consumers.
Bench ASPECT supports technology validation, optimization, and unit-operation development beyond proof of concept. Pre-pilot ASPECT supports the design, construction, and operation of integrated systems. Target products may be conventional chemicals offering supply-chain, cost, toxicity, or market-growth advantages, or bio-advantaged chemicals with improved function, cost, trade, or national-security benefits.
