Alternative Fuels & Feedstock Initiative to Add Value to Seed Oil Crops through Improved Preprocessing, Scalability, and Valorization of Product Streams

The Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels & Feedstock Office, administered through Battelle Energy Alliance at Idaho National Laboratory, is seeking expressions of interest from U.S. universities or private companies to conduct post‑harvest research on seed‑oil crops. The goal is to develop scalable methods that lower processing costs, boost oil yields, and create valuable non‑oil streams, with an emphasis on bench‑scale work that can be justified for field‑scale application. Selected teams will collaborate with the Biomass Feedstock National User Facility and provide data for an INL‑led techno‑economic assessment. • Focus on post‑harvest operations: harvesting, storage, fractionation, and valorization of seed components (non‑oil emphasis). • Projects lasting 12–24 months, supporting ~0.25 FTE PI and 1–3 FTE technical staff, covering labor, consumables, and optionally equipment or travel (subject to approval). • Up to two projects funded; applicants must submit a 3‑5 page technical brief plus CVs for all core team members by 6 p.m. MST, Oct 23 2026.