Progression of Net-Zero Emission Propulsion Technologies for the Off-Road Sector

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In September 2022, the U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency executed an historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the signatory agencies to accelerate our nation’s affordable and equitable clean transportation future.1 As a result of the comprehensive decarbonization strategy called for in the MOU, those agencies issued the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, which set the goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the transportation sector – including off-road equipment – by 20502. The Transition to net-zero emission technologies requires coordination among all aspects of the supply chain, including feedstock supply, alternative fuel production, equipment manufacturers, safety implementation, customer demand, and government regulation. To develop a national strategy to decarbonize the sector, three critical questions must be addressed: 1. What is the current state of the off-road vehicle fleet? 2. Which powertrain technologies are most promising for decarbonization of off-road vehicles? 3. What is the timeline for the off-road sector to transition to net-zero emission GHG technologies? “Off-road vehicles are primarily designed to operate away from existing roadways. This category contains a disparate and very diverse set of vehicles and use cases, including construction and mining equipment, industrial equipment, agriculture equipment, lawn and garden equipment, and recreational vehicles.”1 The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to understand the off-road sector alternative propulsion technology preferences, which technologies seem most promising, and what are the key barriers to achieving the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050. The propulsion technologies under consideration for this RFI are: biodiesel, renewable diesel, renewable natural gas, battery electric, direct electrification (catenary), electric hybridization, hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cells. Currently, no one alternative propulsion technology is a clear choice for sector decarbonization. This RFI is an attempt to aggregate knowledge from stakeholders to help guide actions regarding future propulsion technologies, research and infrastructure investments, and coordination among key stakeholders to ensure that the off-road sector is meeting or exceeding U.S. decarbonization milestones. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications. Please see the full text of the RFI DE-FOA-0003353 at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to CleanMachines@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on June 7, 2024. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Preferred responses should be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) (10 page limit) and/or Microsoft Excel (.xslx) attachment to the email. Only electronic responses will be accepted. [1]https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/mou-doe-dot-epa-hud-final_09-15-2022.pdf [2] https://www.energy.gov/eere/us-national-blueprint-transportation-decarboniation-joint-strategy-transform-transportation