USAF photo by Senior Airman Matthew Bruch.

On behalf of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force, the Energy Department is seeking research projects that would lead to the commercial production of coal-derived jet fuel. Creating jet fuels from coal capitalizes on an abundant domestic energy resource and lessens our dependence on foreign oil for jet fuel production.

The Department would like to fund projects that will lead to a jet fuel with lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions less than or equal to conventional petroleum-based jet fuel production, while remaining cost-competitive.

To fuel the search, the Energy Department has issued a new funding opportunity announcement, with about $20 million earmarked for the awards. Award recipients will share in the costs of the project, providing at least 20 percent of the funds. Areas of interest for the jet fuel projects are —

• Hybrid coal-to-liquids processes for jet fuel production.
• Process intensification for coal conversion for jet fuel production.
• Innovative non-traditional coal conversion processes for jet fuel production.
• Commercialization analysis for construction of a site specific coal-to-liquids facility

Applicant instructions and information for the funding opportunity announcement, DE-FOA-000981, are online at FedConnect.net. The first step in the process is submission of a concept paper, which must be received by December 6, 2013. Applicants will be notified of acceptance or rejection once their concept papers have been evaluated. Applicants whose concept papers are determined acceptable will be eligible to submit a full application.

The Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the projects with high hopes that they will take off.