Munster Technological University (MTU) is to lead a first-of-its-kind decentralised green biorefinery demonstration initiative
The €8.7 million “Rural BioReFarmeries” project will advance the development of farm-centred bioeconomy approaches through the deployment of green biorefineries across grassland regions of Europe.
The initiative is being supported by Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2 billion partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).
Biorefinery
Under the project two primary green biorefinery and anaerobic digestion (AD) demonstration sites in Ireland and Denmark will convert grasses, clover and green biomass residues sourced from local farms into value-added products.
This will include human and animal grade protein, bio-based food packaging, flavours, anti-microbials, fertiliser and energy.
It will work intensively with primary producer partners on the ground, including within the dairy and pig sectors, while also linking these farms to research and industrial sites in Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Poland.
Speaking about the initiative, project coordinator James Gaffey, co-director, CircBio, MTU, said that emerging grass-based value chains represent a major strategic opportunity for the EU bioeconomy.
“By improving the efficiency and circularity of our vast European grasslands, we can produce, not only forage, but also food, high value materials and energy.
“Green biorefineries are a key enabling technology which can help rural grassland farmers to address challenges such as income diversification, accessing sustainable inputs for their farms, displacing unsustainable products and contributing to our climate and sustainability targets.
“Rural BioReFarmeries builds on the latest research of various EU countries to optimise green biorefineries by overcoming existing limitations and implementing these business models on the ground with farmers, cooperatives and other industries across multiple sectors,” he said.
MTU
Rural BioReFarmeries brings together 19 partners from 8 countries including MTU, Aarhus University in Denmark, University College Dublin (UCD), Barryroe Cooperative, University of Galway and Trinity College Dublin.
Carbery Group will be part of the initiative through its flagship project Farm Zero C – which is creating a model for climate neutral dairy farming.
“Both initiatives are seeking to create sustainable futures for Irish and European farmers, using scientific advances,” Enda Buckley, sirector of sustainability at Carbery Group, said.
“A key focus of the Rural BioReFarmeries project is providing farmers with a circular bioeconomy business model that also helps to address many of the sustainability challenges which they face.
“In this sense, the project addresses many issues such as feedstock sustainability, sustainable protein alternatives, displacement of fossil-based products, and circular use of process residues,” he said.
Kevin O’Connor, director of BiOrbic Centre at UCD added that farms and farmers are central to the bioeconomy.
“Biorefining on farms will be a critical part of the circular bioeconomy operational systems where both food and non-food products will be produced.
“On-farm biorefining will help the integration of farmers into new value chains allowing them to diversify their business and promote greater wealth creation for them.
“Rural BioReFameries is the co-operation of researchers and stakeholders in the value chain to help bring this vision closer to reality,” he said.