"If the bioeconomy was just conferences and consultations, reports and PR, we’d be doing very well. However, in the end, you always have to ask the question – can you make a living out of it?”
That’s according to James Cogan, regulatory, carbon markets and renewables lead at Irish company Clonbio, who was speaking at the recent All-Ireland Bioeconomy Summit in Meath.
The bioeconomy refers to any part of the economy that uses renewable or biological resources, such as plants, animals, microorganisms or waste to produce goods, services and energy. It is broad in scope, so it is no surprise that interest in this year’s event was high.
From left, Dr Anne Kokel, Stef Denayer, James Cogan and Dr John Bell (on screen).
More than 300 people attended the summit, which explored a wide range of topics, from new bio-based products and services to policies, funding opportunities, global developments and biomethane strategies.
James has worked for 10 years with Clonbio, which has invested around €1bn in bioeconomy projects in Hungary, Ireland, other European countries and the USA. The company was also a partner in Green Generation, the biogas company which entered administration in March, so James was able to provide a perspective grounded in commercial reality.
The challenge of reality
There remains a significant emphasis on developing the bioeconomy right across Europe in order to reduce our reliance on fossil-based materials and energy.
In the morning panel discussion, chaired by Intergrade Ireland’s Richard Kennedy, Dr John Bell, healthy planet director at the European Commission, explained that there is a real opportunity for Europe to step up and develop its bioeconomy, particularly in light of developments in the US.
The bioeconomy will be central to future policies in Europe and is now moving from being a research and innovation-led policy to an application stage, which will be integral to the work of the Environment and Agriculture Commissioners, he explained.
Irish company Clonbio has developed a barley protein biorefinery in Hungary.
As preparations are underway for the next cycle of monetary policies in the EU, this shift means new funding streams will be available to develop bioeconomy solutions to some of agriculture’s biggest challenges, which will become flagship strategies, he said.
However, James explained that the bioeconomy is highly dependent on regulation, and it hasn’t been an easy ride for his company. He tried to relate the high-level policy ambitions around the bioeconomy, to the cold, hard realities of trying to build a business to achieve these ambitions.
“In the end you always have to ask the question about every mechanism that’s in play – how you make a living out if it? Can you build a company, pay employees, pay suppliers, get finance, pay that finance back and actually have a decent quality of life,” he said.
“A lot of the aspects of the bioeconomy we are involved in, none of those are really the case,” James told the audience.
“We keep falling for it, we keep going back in and sometimes I wonder why because the bioeconomy is a very hard way to make a living,” James joked.
Two sides of the same coin
James explained that in order for the bioeconomy to work at scale, you need to create a wide range of products, which includes bioenergy.
He then gave an example of one of the big projects they have in Hungary, a barley biorefinery, where Clonbio take barley and break it down into its protein, starch, sugar and fibre to create products.
He said that you get lots of starch and fibre left over after the protein is extracted.
“We then make dietary fibres, but we also make a lot of biomethane and ethanol from the fibre and sugars,” he explained.
“The bioeconomy and bioenergy are two sides of the same coin. If you want to do the bioeconomy projects at scale, not just five people in a startup somewhere, but 500 people in a big industrial engine that can bring prosperity and energy independence to a whole region, then you need bioenergy and bioeconomy on the same development, with multiple products coming out of it.
The importance of making money
“We find it extraordinarily difficult to communicate with the regulators on how the whole mechanism works, and the importance of actually being able to make money out of it and be seen to be doing so, as if you’re making money, someone else will follow you in,” he said.
“It’s not easy, so I’d always say to people, ask yourself if you can make money out of it and be ruthless about it. If you can’t, it’s just ‘blah blah’.”
Anti-bioeconomy leadership
He told the audience that the leadership in Ireland is “anti-bioeconomy”. An example of this is Ireland’s plans for anaerobic digestion (AD) and biomethane, he explained.
An AD plant is often referred to as a biorefinery as it processes organic waste and raw materials through biological and chemical means, to create a range of products, including biomethane, CO2 and organic fertiliser.
Technologies and companies are emerging to further refine these outputs into hydrogen, methanol, bioplastics, biodiesel, food, packaging materials and separate nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium-based products. The rollout of AD was expected to rapidly develop the bioeconomy but James brought a more sobering view of Ireland’s plans.
“You take the biomethane strategy, which came out last year. There isn’t a single measure in the strategy that is actually going to help us be more successful and grow, there isn’t a single one. Lots of pages, but nothing specific,” he said.
Protein extracted from barley.
Many of the deadlines contained in the strategy for actions to be completed have been missed by both the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
“At the same time, the Government pushed through an additional incentive for imported Asian competing fuel. It’s imported, and it’s fraudulent,” he alleged.
Both the UK and the European Union are actively investigating fraud allegations related to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a biofuel marketed as a sustainable alternative to diesel.
“I spent much of last year trying to get that message across to Government departments responsible for the biomethane strategy, the renewable heat and transport obligations and to Gas Networks Ireland. I got closed doors everywhere,” he explained to the audience.
“Either they deliberately don’t want to know, or they simply don’t have confidence in it, but one thing I know is you can’t develop a biomethane plant in Ireland because you’re competing against a deliberately incentivised fraudulent product from Asia. It’s as simple as that,” James claimed.
The Irish Farmers Journal has asked the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for a response.
Percy Foster or Foster Environmental.
Bioeconomy success
While the conference highlighted many commercial and policy challenges, it also showcased new investments, funding calls, demonstrations and commercial advancements in the bioeconomy.
Conference organiser Percy Foster of Foster Environmental explained that the BiOrbic Bioeconomy Research Centre, after securing a €24 million second round of investment from Research Ireland in 2023, has partnered with industry on projects worth over €2 million in 2024 and 2025.
There have also been investments in wool processing projects, and the results from the €9 million Shared Island funding call will be announced shortly.
BioConnect, a biotechnology food centre in Monaghan, will be operational by the end of the summer, while Nua Mara, Ireland’s marine innovation centre in Galway, will open soon.
At the National Bioeconomy Campus in Lisheen, Co Tipperary, Naringtech has begun the construction of a Bio-Products Campus.
"If the bioeconomy was just conferences and consultations, reports and PR, we’d be doing very well. However, in the end, you always have to ask the question – can you make a living out of it?”
That’s according to James Cogan, regulatory, carbon markets and renewables lead at Irish company Clonbio, who was speaking at the recent All-Ireland Bioeconomy Summit in Meath.
The bioeconomy refers to any part of the economy that uses renewable or biological resources, such as plants, animals, microorganisms or waste to produce goods, services and energy. It is broad in scope, so it is no surprise that interest in this year’s event was high.
From left, Dr Anne Kokel, Stef Denayer, James Cogan and Dr John Bell (on screen).
More than 300 people attended the summit, which explored a wide range of topics, from new bio-based products and services to policies, funding opportunities, global developments and biomethane strategies.
James has worked for 10 years with Clonbio, which has invested around €1bn in bioeconomy projects in Hungary, Ireland, other European countries and the USA. The company was also a partner in Green Generation, the biogas company which entered administration in March, so James was able to provide a perspective grounded in commercial reality.
The challenge of reality
There remains a significant emphasis on developing the bioeconomy right across Europe in order to reduce our reliance on fossil-based materials and energy.
In the morning panel discussion, chaired by Intergrade Ireland’s Richard Kennedy, Dr John Bell, healthy planet director at the European Commission, explained that there is a real opportunity for Europe to step up and develop its bioeconomy, particularly in light of developments in the US.
The bioeconomy will be central to future policies in Europe and is now moving from being a research and innovation-led policy to an application stage, which will be integral to the work of the Environment and Agriculture Commissioners, he explained.
Irish company Clonbio has developed a barley protein biorefinery in Hungary.
As preparations are underway for the next cycle of monetary policies in the EU, this shift means new funding streams will be available to develop bioeconomy solutions to some of agriculture’s biggest challenges, which will become flagship strategies, he said.
However, James explained that the bioeconomy is highly dependent on regulation, and it hasn’t been an easy ride for his company. He tried to relate the high-level policy ambitions around the bioeconomy, to the cold, hard realities of trying to build a business to achieve these ambitions.
“In the end you always have to ask the question about every mechanism that’s in play – how you make a living out if it? Can you build a company, pay employees, pay suppliers, get finance, pay that finance back and actually have a decent quality of life,” he said.
“A lot of the aspects of the bioeconomy we are involved in, none of those are really the case,” James told the audience.
“We keep falling for it, we keep going back in and sometimes I wonder why because the bioeconomy is a very hard way to make a living,” James joked.
Two sides of the same coin
James explained that in order for the bioeconomy to work at scale, you need to create a wide range of products, which includes bioenergy.
He then gave an example of one of the big projects they have in Hungary, a barley biorefinery, where Clonbio take barley and break it down into its protein, starch, sugar and fibre to create products.
He said that you get lots of starch and fibre left over after the protein is extracted.
“We then make dietary fibres, but we also make a lot of biomethane and ethanol from the fibre and sugars,” he explained.
“The bioeconomy and bioenergy are two sides of the same coin. If you want to do the bioeconomy projects at scale, not just five people in a startup somewhere, but 500 people in a big industrial engine that can bring prosperity and energy independence to a whole region, then you need bioenergy and bioeconomy on the same development, with multiple products coming out of it.
The importance of making money
“We find it extraordinarily difficult to communicate with the regulators on how the whole mechanism works, and the importance of actually being able to make money out of it and be seen to be doing so, as if you’re making money, someone else will follow you in,” he said.
“It’s not easy, so I’d always say to people, ask yourself if you can make money out of it and be ruthless about it. If you can’t, it’s just ‘blah blah’.”
Anti-bioeconomy leadership
He told the audience that the leadership in Ireland is “anti-bioeconomy”. An example of this is Ireland’s plans for anaerobic digestion (AD) and biomethane, he explained.
An AD plant is often referred to as a biorefinery as it processes organic waste and raw materials through biological and chemical means, to create a range of products, including biomethane, CO2 and organic fertiliser.
Technologies and companies are emerging to further refine these outputs into hydrogen, methanol, bioplastics, biodiesel, food, packaging materials and separate nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium-based products. The rollout of AD was expected to rapidly develop the bioeconomy but James brought a more sobering view of Ireland’s plans.
“You take the biomethane strategy, which came out last year. There isn’t a single measure in the strategy that is actually going to help us be more successful and grow, there isn’t a single one. Lots of pages, but nothing specific,” he said.
Protein extracted from barley.
Many of the deadlines contained in the strategy for actions to be completed have been missed by both the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
“At the same time, the Government pushed through an additional incentive for imported Asian competing fuel. It’s imported, and it’s fraudulent,” he alleged.
Both the UK and the European Union are actively investigating fraud allegations related to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a biofuel marketed as a sustainable alternative to diesel.
“I spent much of last year trying to get that message across to Government departments responsible for the biomethane strategy, the renewable heat and transport obligations and to Gas Networks Ireland. I got closed doors everywhere,” he explained to the audience.
“Either they deliberately don’t want to know, or they simply don’t have confidence in it, but one thing I know is you can’t develop a biomethane plant in Ireland because you’re competing against a deliberately incentivised fraudulent product from Asia. It’s as simple as that,” James claimed.
The Irish Farmers Journal has asked the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications for a response.
Percy Foster or Foster Environmental.
Bioeconomy success
While the conference highlighted many commercial and policy challenges, it also showcased new investments, funding calls, demonstrations and commercial advancements in the bioeconomy.
Conference organiser Percy Foster of Foster Environmental explained that the BiOrbic Bioeconomy Research Centre, after securing a €24 million second round of investment from Research Ireland in 2023, has partnered with industry on projects worth over €2 million in 2024 and 2025.
There have also been investments in wool processing projects, and the results from the €9 million Shared Island funding call will be announced shortly.
BioConnect, a biotechnology food centre in Monaghan, will be operational by the end of the summer, while Nua Mara, Ireland’s marine innovation centre in Galway, will open soon.
At the National Bioeconomy Campus in Lisheen, Co Tipperary, Naringtech has begun the construction of a Bio-Products Campus.
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