It’s been a busy year for the Irish bio-based economy, despite policy and market challenges.

In his opening address at the All-Ireland Bio-based Economy Summit earlier this month, Percy Foster gave a rundown of the various investments, funding calls demonstration projects and commercial advancements in the bio-based economy over the past year.

At the National Bio-based Economy Campus in Lisheen, Co Tipperary, Naringtech has commenced construction of a bio-products campus.

The campus will include a composting plant to treat 40,000 tonnes of waste from brown bins, industrial and wastewater sludges, forestry cuttings and food waste, to produce 13,000 tonnes of compost for use in horticulture and agriculture.

It will also include a biorefinery to convert 14,000 tonnes of whey permeate into 2,000 tonnes of high-protein yeast for animal feed initially and whey powder.

The development also includes a mesophilic anaerobic digester that will treat a further 40,000 tonnes of waste to produce digestate for use as fertiliser and generate electricity and biomethane. The campus is set to open in late 2025.

BioConnect

Percy explained that there is a clear appetite from local companies, north and south of the border, to use modern advances in biotechnology to enhance and develop new products.

A new centre in Monaghan - BioConnect - will be fully operational by the end of the summer, but is already delivering projects.

The centre will be able to accommodate scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians from companies and support them in their own development and innovation activities.

Companies can have access to bench space, whole laboratories and ancillary/support kit needed, as well as the expertise of the BioConnect team.

BiOrbic

He outlined that the BiOrbic Bio-based Economy Research Centre, after securing a €24m second round of investment from Research Ireland in 2023, has partnered with industry on projects worth over €2m in 2024 and 2025.

Outputs so far include over 50 publications, as well as funding 56 current bio-based economy PhD and postdoctoral researchers.

Nua Mara

Ireland’s new marine innovation centre - Nua Mara - will be located in Galway and will bridge the gap between research and commercialisation in the marine bio-based economy.

Funded by Enterprise Ireland’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund and Údarás na Gaeltachta, it aims to help companies unlock global markets across biotechnology, nutraceuticals and specialised aquaculture.

Enterprise Ireland

Through Enterprise Ireland capital equipment funding, approximately €1m was secured for the installation of pilot-scale bio-processing equipment, developing bespoke facilities in MTU and TUS, which are specifically focused on industry collaborations.

Shared Ireland funding

Through the Shared Island Initiative, the Government of Ireland offered funding for an all-island bio-based economy demonstrator initiative to support the integration of bio-based innovation in the agriculture and marine sectors across the island of Ireland.

In response, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, working in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, established the ‘Shared Island Fund Bio-based Economy Demonstration Initiative Scheme’.

A 2024 call for proposals under this scheme offered a total of €9m, with an announcement of successful proposals expected in Q2 2025.

Irish Bio-based Economy Foundation

Funding of €5m has been secured for the National Bio-based Economy Campus in Lisheen, Tipperary, to develop an open-access pilot bio-refinery facility for scaling bio-based economy technologies. BioScaleUp will be fully operational and functional by the end of 2025.