Institute of Technology Tralee gets EU grant to develop Ireland’s first small-scale biorefinery

In Ireland, the Institute of Technology Tralee will receive EUR940,000 under the EU Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI), which is co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and the EU, to lead the Biorefinery Glas project, Ireland’s first small-scale bioeconomy initiative.

The Biorefinery Glas project aims to address key challenges in Irish agriculture while promoting farmer diversification into Ireland’s exciting and growing bioeconomy. Within this, IT Tralee will partner with University College Dublin, the Carbery Group, Barryroe Co-Operative and Wageningen University-spinout GRASSA BV on the Biorefinery Glas project, through which farmers will demonstrate new business models, using an automated and low-cost biorefinery model, which integrates well within traditional beef and dairy farming and could be replicated across Ireland, addressing fodder and emissions challenges while adding value to primary production. The two-year demonstration project will commence in 2019 at IT Tralee.