Summary
The delivery of fuel to contested and resource constrained regions is a logistics challenge for the Department of Defense.
Distributed production of nitrogen- and carbon-based fuels could eliminate the associated supply chain vulnerabilities and enable agile expeditionary units.
Recent advancements in the field of synthetic fuels for commercial applications offer promise, but, at this time, synthesis of energy-dense fuels of interest, such as ammonia, methanol, and gasoline, remain energetically costly and are not viable to deploy at the point of need. In addition, for military operations, having efficient and reliable small-scale transportable systems are more important than commercial financial considerations.
Developing robust, mobile methods of fuel production for DoD applications in contested environments requires alternative formation pathways that are deployable under ambient conditions with a low energy requirement.
FAARM is exploring the following question: How can energy-dense fuels be synthesized using an efficient, small-scale system?
Active topic
The solicitation for this program closed on April 15, 2024. This topic is within its period of performance.
Resources
- DARPA-EA-24-01-01
Solicitation - DARPA-EA-25-02
Exploration Announcement