Clean Fuel News

Notice of intent issued on Medium/Heavy-Duty, On-Road Natural Gas Engine Research and Development

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled “FY 2017 Vehicle Technologies Office Medium/Heavy-Duty, On-Road Natural Gas Engine Research and Development Funding Opportunity Announcement”.

The Vehicle Technologies Office funds early-stage, high-risk research to generate knowledge upon which industry can develop and deploy innovative transportation energy technologies that improve efficiency, lower costs, and increase use of secure, domestic energy sources.

As the world’s leading natural gas producer, the United States could benefit from using low-cost natural gas as an alternative to other energy sources for transporting goods. Opportunities exist to improve performance, reliability, durability, cost effectiveness, and efficiency of natural gas vehicles through research and development.

A public workshop on natural gas vehicles was held at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on July 25, 2017 to identify early-stage research needs for natural gas engines. A summary of the key observations can be found here.

VTO is seeking to address barriers to adoption of natural gas vehicles through early-stage research on medium- and heavy-duty on-road engine technologies. The goal is to enable natural gas engines that can cost-effectively achieve diesel-like efficiency while meeting current and future emissions standards.

Through this notice, VTO is making interested parties aware of plans to release a funding opportunity announcement in the near-term.