CircleBio-P

Project Reference Number: This project has received funding from the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) 2022 Policy & Strategic Studies Research Call under grant agreement Reference No: 2022PSS142.

Duration: 24 months (May 2024– April 2026)

This project will highlight how two small-scale, eco-friendly processes can be delivered to the implementation-ready demonstration-level at the National Bioeconomy Campus. CircleBio-P will demonstrate a swift transition from an old linear to the new, circular process.

The circular Bioeconomy combines eco-friendly practices for reusing resources to achieve zero-waste, emission, and effluent production. Having a large volume of by-products generated by food-processing industries, Ireland is well suited to benefit from the great potential for a thriving circular Bioeconomy. The European Commission believes that expanding and highlighting these activities is essential for promoting eco-friendly production and for the betterment of society.

The bioeconomy involves producing renewable biological resources and turning them into bio-based products, food, animal feed, and bioenergy. It’s a major sector in Europe, employing about 17.4 million people and generating over €2 trillion annually. The CircleBio-P project will demonstrate a comprehensive Bioeconomy innovation model at the National Bioeconomy Campus in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary, using two example projects and bringing together key stakeholders at a large bioeconomy demonstration facility.

The goal of this project is to unlock innovation potential and create opportunities for building relationships and partnerships for circularity. The project will demonstrate how Ireland can meet the need to grow eco-friendly processes.

Objectives of this project:

The EU Bioeconomy strategy is part of the wider EU Green Deal which is steering Europe through a just transition to a sustainable society. To enable the bioeconomy to take off and thrive we must empower the industry and its biomass producers, who are the shareholders in these industries, to scale technologies. CircleBio-P directly addresses the SRIA Strategic priority 2.1.2 “Deploy innovative production technologies” and the key action of “Key infrastructures such as pilot plants, demo biorefinery facilities, etc., shared among biomass producers and biorefineries, which provide test rigs and norms. Critical to the advancement of these technologies is the availability of pilot scale facilities, a key tool to a deeper technical and economic understanding that informs process design and business plans. Scaling trials thus provide critical data that de-risks investments.

TUS activities

Pilot scale Demonstration-1: Upscale of processes for conversion of Low-grade biomasses into HVPs and test of their safety and suitability for animal and human consumption collaborating with Dawn Meats.

Pilot scale Demonstration-3: Further valorisation of the end of the cycle material (Anaerobic Digestion-Pyrolysis-Algal photo-fermentation) at IBF Lisheen facility collaborating with Green Generation and Arigna Fuels.

The processes will be scaled up at the state-of-the-art IBF facility- National Bioeconomy Campus.

Contact Details

Project Co-ordinators:

Partners: The Technological University of the Shannon lead this project (TUS) in collaboration with University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Irish Bioeconomy Foundation, Tirlán, Dawn Meats, Arigna Fuels, and Green Generation Ireland.