Request For Information (RFI) on Recovery of High Energy-Value Materials from Wastewater | DE FOA 0003374

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003374

The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) titled "Recovery of High Energy-Value Materials from Wastewater" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0003374). This notice is strictly an information-gathering request and is not a funding opportunity announcement. ARPA-E is not accepting applications, will not make awards under this notice, and has set no award ceiling and no expected awards. Instead, the agency is seeking technical and market input that could help shape a future ARPA-E program.

The central idea behind the RFI is to explore technology pathways that can recover materials with significant energy and economic value from wastewater streams, with the broader goal of lowering energy use and greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional material sourcing and typical wastewater treatment approaches. The RFI uses a broad definition of "wastewater," explicitly including municipal wastewater, livestock and agricultural waste streams, industrial wastewater, and wastewater associated with mining activities. By framing wastewater as a resource rather than only a treatment problem, ARPA-E is signaling interest in approaches that turn diluted, complex waste streams into feedstocks for valuable products.

ARPA-E highlights two main categories of "high energy-value materials" of interest. The first category is nutrients, specifically ammonia and phosphorus, which are foundational inputs for fertilizers and can carry substantial embedded energy and emissions when produced or mined through traditional routes. The second category is critical minerals, described here as a group of 50 elements on the periodic table, with examples including lithium and rare earth elements (REEs). These materials are strategically important for energy technologies, manufacturing, and supply chain resilience, and their recovery from wastewater could potentially reduce the need for new extraction while also mitigating pollution and treatment burdens.

In practical terms, the RFI is meant to collect perspectives on the feasibility, performance targets, technical barriers, system integration challenges, and potential environmental and economic impacts of technologies that could extract and concentrate these nutrients and minerals from diverse wastewater matrices. While the notice does not list specific technical topics in the excerpt provided, the program intent implies interest in scalable recovery processes, improved separations, novel chemistry or electrochemical routes, biological or hybrid systems, and other approaches that could outperform conventional treatment in energy intensity, cost, selectivity, and overall lifecycle emissions. Because wastewater composition varies widely by source, the RFI also implicitly points to a need for solutions that are robust to variability, contamination, and dilution, and that can fit within real-world infrastructure constraints.

Administrative details reinforce that this is only a preliminary step. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary and associated with science and technology research and development (CFDA 81.135). The listing shows "eligible applicants: unrestricted," which in the context of an RFI generally means ARPA-E is open to input from a wide range of stakeholders such as universities, national laboratories, startups, established companies, utilities, technology vendors, and other organizations with relevant expertise. The RFI was created on May 14, 2024, with an original closing date of June 5, 2024. ARPA-E directs interested parties to review the full RFI text at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov for submission instructions and the specific questions being asked.

Overall, this RFI is an early signal of ARPA-E's interest in accelerating breakthrough R&D that treats wastewater as a source of recoverable nutrients and critical minerals. The agency is collecting input to determine whether a future program could credibly drive down energy demand and emissions while creating new pathways for domestic supply and circular use of high-value materials.

• 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) on Recovery of High Energy-Value Materials from Wastewater" 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 2024-05-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0003374

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