Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – Methane Emissions Reduction Program Oil and Gas Methane Monitoring and Mitigation | DE FOA 0003256

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003256

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Methane Emissions Reduction Program Oil and Gas Methane Monitoring and Mitigation funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0003256) is a Department of Energy effort administered through the National Energy Technology Laboratory. It is designed to cut methane emissions tied to oil and natural gas production, processing, and transportation, and it fits under DOEs Methane Emissions Mitigation and Quantification Program within the Office of Resource Sustainability. The long-term policy goal behind the program is ambitious: push the industry toward eliminating methane emissions from carbon-based fuel supply chains by 2030. The FOA emphasizes that meaningful mitigation depends on knowing, with high confidence, where methane is coming from, how much is being emitted, and under what operating conditions, because methane releases can be both intentional (for example, venting or planned operational events) and fugitive (leaks and unintended emissions). It explicitly recognizes that quantification needs to cover the full natural gas infrastructure, including low-producing and marginal conventional wells that may be widely distributed, aging, or harder to monitor consistently.

At its core, this FOA is trying to fund two things at once: real-world emissions reductions and the measurement systems needed to prove those reductions are real, durable, and scalable. DOE is looking for projects that mitigate methane from marginal conventional wells (MCWs) and other oil and gas assets while also accelerating commercialization, scale-up, and field application of innovative methane reduction technologies. In parallel, the FOA supports advancing the characterization and reduction of methane through multi-scale, measurement-informed data collection and analysis. That multi-scale framing matters because methane can be assessed at different levels, such as component-level measurements, site-level surveys, field- or basin-level monitoring, and broader regional observations. The intention is to build an empirical, state-of-the-industry understanding of mitigation opportunities and operational performance across US production and delivery regions, using data collected under real operating conditions rather than relying only on modeling or limited pilot studies.

The public value case is also a major theme. The announcement frames methane mitigation not only as a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, but also as an environmental health and community engagement priority, with a specific callout that many impacted areas are disadvantaged or frontline communities. That means DOE is signaling interest in projects that do not just deploy technology, but also generate usable information, improve transparency around emissions, and support better outcomes for communities located near oil and gas operations and infrastructure.

From a funding mechanics standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary program using cooperative agreements, which typically means substantial federal involvement during the project period (for example, DOE input on technical direction, milestones, reporting, and review). Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, indicating a wide range of entity types can apply, depending on FOA requirements (often including industry, technology developers, universities, national labs, nonprofits, and state or local entities). The FOA is associated with CFDA 81.089 and falls under the Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources activity category. The original closing date is August 26, 2024. DOE anticipates making around 38 awards, and the award ceiling is listed as $300,000,000, which signals that at least some awards could be very large, likely for multi-partner demonstrations, large-scale monitoring networks, or programs that combine deployment with extensive measurement and verification.

Finally, Modification 000001 is an administrative update intended to clarify parts of the FOA rather than change its overall purpose. The modification updates Section I.B. to provide clarifications about objectives and background related to a specific area of interest (AOI 3b), clarifies what activities are not of interest under AOI 1 (including subareas 1a, 1b, and 1c) and AOI 3 (including 3a and 3b), and clarifies how well site and field test locations relate to AOI 2 (including 2a, 2b, and 2c). In practical terms, that kind of revision usually aims to reduce ambiguity for applicants about what DOE wants to fund, what it does not want to fund, and how to interpret requirements for field sites and testing locations when proposing technology demonstrations or measurement campaigns.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – Methane Emissions Reduction Program Oil and Gas Methane Monitoring and Mitigation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 38 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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