The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fuel Cell Technologies Office has issued a request for information (RFI) to obtain feedback and opinions from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on advanced thermal insulation for sub-ambient temperature alternative fuel storage systems.

This RFI requests information regarding how to maintain vacuum stability of systems, use of advanced composites within the systems, and accelerated test methods to determine performance and applicability of materials and systems for long-term cold and cryogenic based alternative fuel storage systems for onboard vehicle applications. Alternative fuels could include hydrogen or natural gas stored on board the vehicle at sub-ambient temperatures as a compressed gas, liquefied gas, or adsorbed onto a porous material.

The DOE is planning a workshop related to this RFI to gather additional feedback from composites experts in automotive, aerospace, and other industries. The workshop will be held on October 29, 2015, in Dallas, Texas.

For details, see the RFI announcement DE-FOA-0001420 or email questions about the RFI to H2Storage@ee.doe.gov with "question" in the subject line. RFI responses must be received no later than 5 p.m. (EST) on Friday, November 6. This RFI is not a funding opportunity announcement; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications for funding regarding this topic at this time.