ARPA-E E-FAST Climate / ARPA-E Carbon Programs

Under ARPA-E, this program family covers carbon and climate-adaptation technologies and sits within the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy's broader portfolio of energy-focused, high-risk research support. The record frames it as a U.S. grant route for early technical concepts that can still move into development. The program uses grants from $500k to $15m, with a median actual award of $2.5m, and it runs annually. Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based for-profit applicants; nonprofits and individuals are not eligible. The record puts the work in TRL 2-5 and requires a 20% match, with no stacking on the same project. The best fit is a company with a carbon or climate technology concept that is still early enough for federal R&D support but concrete enough to survive annual competition. Teams that can show a clear technical path and a credible budget for matched funding are closest to the profile this program is built for. Since the program is topic-driven, applicants need a precise fit to the announced challenge area rather than a generic clean-tech story.

No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.