The Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF) is developing a National Bioeconomy Campus at Lisheen, Co. Tipperary with a view to producing high value bio-based chemicals from domestically available low value biomass residues. This National Bioeconomy Campus will be a model for rural economic development advancing industrial development, through collaboration between industries and between industry and research performing organisations.
In late 2017, the IBF secured significant funding from Enterprise Ireland to build the National Bioeconomy Innovation and Piloting Facility on the Lisheen site. This facility, due for completion in Q1 2019, will stimulate the scale-up of technologies from industry and academia; enabling the valorisation of side-streams and residues from agri, food, marine and other sectors.
The mission of IBF is to promote the conversion of Ireland’s natural land and sea resources to high value products for the development of a sustainable bioeconomy that is globally competitive. The IBF’s membership includes individuals and organisations responsible for many flagship initiatives already in place which have helped to put Ireland at the cutting edge of innovation in terms of the global bioeconomy. These include:
The AgriChemWhey EU flagship project, led by Glanbia, which will fund the world’s first food by-product Biorefinery plant located at Lisheen.
Model Demonstrator Region (MDR) status awarded by the European Commission (EC) to the area spanning a 50km radius of Lisheen, one of only 6 regions in the EU granted such status. These regions are mandated to contribute to the development of the bioeconomy by utilising domestically available feedstock e.g. biomass, waste or CO2.
Shannon ABC – An Enterprise Ireland funded technology gateway with the remit for prospecting bio-resources, for national and international partner industries for added value products, hosted in LIT and IT Tralee.
DPTC - The Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC) is an industry–academic collaborative research centre, hosted by the University of Limerick, with a research agenda driven by the long-term growth opportunities for the dairy sector. The centre is funded by Enterprise Ireland and the Dairy Industry Partners.
ICT Biochain. A H2020 funded project looking at ICT tools in efficient biomass supply chains for sustainable chemical production.
IBF will help unlock significant existing and future value of these projects as well being a magnet for other similar initiatives.
Pictured - Interreg Europe SUPER Project partners on a recent study visit to the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation and Agri-Chem Whey Project located in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary.
For more information, contact
Anthony Fitzgerald
Director
Irish Bioeconomy Foundation
Anthony.fitzgerald@bioeconomyfoundation.ie
www.bioeconomyfoundation.com