Carlow set for €50m bioprocess facility

A €50 MILLION bioprocessing facility is planned for the Carlow region, it was announced yesterday.

The project has been under development for the past 18 months and is currently with Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority.

Professor Jimmy Burke, head of the crops research centre at Teagasc Oak, said: “We are very excited about it and hopeful that it is going to happen.”

Bioprocesing is the application of advanced technology and scientific principles in the biomanufacturing industry for the production of a wide variety of agricultural, biopharmaceutical and chemical products from a wide range of biomass sources.

Plant matter such as trees, grasses, agricultural crops and other biological material is known as biomass.

It can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gas, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals or fuels.

By integrating a variety of biomass conversion processes, all of these products can be made in one bioprocessing facility.

Researchers at Carlow IT, Teagasc’s National Crops Research Centre in Carlow and the main universities UCD, TCD, UCC and NUI Maynooth, are already working on some components of this technology.

Groups such as Glanbia, IAWS, One51 and Bioverde are also involved in the planned project.

Prof Burke said significant investment in a state-of-the- art bioprocessing facility is required if Ireland is to develop cost-effective, environmentally friendly biomass conversion technologies to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil imports, improve air quality, and support rural economies.

“In this regard the proposed facility would have enormous impact regionally and nationally in this rapidly developing area of science with substantial commercial spin off’s.

“It may be of particular interest to entrepreneurs and development organisations who want to evaluate crop products at earlier development stages,” he said.

Prof Burke said the Carlow Bioprocess Research and Training Centre would house a well-stocked pilot plant laboratory.

Businesses could also lease the space and equipment for many uses, including developing or scaling-up new projects or optimising existing processes.

New or small companies could develop and pilot products without the capital outlay of laboratory construction or related upkeep costs.

The pilot plant would give researchers and educationalists access to state-of-the-art equipment and expertise in areas of microbial fermentation and product recovery, he said.