• Initiative awarded €5 million from the first of two Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative Calls, as part of the EU Just Transition Fund, which is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, and administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
• The award will support Bioeconomy piloting and demonstration projects in the EU Just Transition Fund territory. In addition to the €5 million Mount Lucas Co. Offaly project, €5 million has also been awarded to a second project at the National Bioeconomy Campus, Lisheen in Thurles Co. Tipperary
  

Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth T.D., and Ministers of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon T.D. and Senator Pippa Hackett have today announced €5 million funding for a new bioeconomy demonstration project in Mount Lucas Co. Offaly as part of a €10 million bioeconomy initiative under the EU Just Transition Fund.

The projects will result in development of innovation hubs to create new products as an alternative to fossil based production, demonstrating the bioeconomy in action in both Co. Tipperary and Co. Offaly. The awards arise from the first of two EU Just Transition Fund Calls for Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiatives, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.

Mount Lucas to be Aquaculture initiative led by TUS

Funding of €5 million is being awarded to ‘The Mount Lucas Circular Bioeconomy Aquaculture Initiative (Circular IMTA)’, which is led by the Technological University of Shannon. It will demonstrate the production of new feeds and food ingredients from cultivated-duckweed and macroalgae at scale, using agri-food waste streams produced at a circular peatland integrated aquaculture site at Mount Lucas in Co. Offaly.

A further €5 million is being awarded to ‘The Lisheen Bioeconomy Scaleup Initiative (BioScaleUp)’. Led by Tipperary County Council, it will demonstrate six innovative technologies at the national pilot biorefinery facility at the National Bioeconomy Campus, Lisheen Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The initiative will see collaboration between Universities, the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation, and dairy and forestry bioprocessing industries. It will include scaling up and demonstrating the conversion of dairy side streams, food waste and wood processing wastewater into biobased chemicals, materials and other valuable biobased products and services. These could eventually be used as food ingredients or as biobased ingredients in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, displacing fossil-based ingredients for example.

Training and Upskilling opportunities in science, technical and engineering fields

Both projects will also include significant training and upskilling opportunities in both facilities across a range of scientific, technical, and engineering, facilitation, business and finance areas related to biorefinery and biomanufacturing.

Commenting on the two newly funded initiatives, Minister McConalogue stated:

“The bioeconomy has the potential to improve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the agri-food sector through offering diversification opportunities, through the development of new products, business models and value chains, and reducing the use of non-sustainable inputs in all economic sectors including in the agri-food sector. I am delighted to announce this €10 million investment in two innovative bioeconomy projects as part of Irelands implementation of the EU Just Transition Fund.”

For his part, Minister Smyth said:

“It is imperative that communities and workers who are most affected by the shift to a climate neutral future are provided with targeted supports to address the social and economic impact of the transition. The changes we need to make have to be just, ensuring that the needs of people and planet are supported. The bioeconomy demonstration initiatives in Co. Tipperary and Co. Offaly will stimulate the development of opportunities and benefits of the green and circular bioeconomy by harnessing and supporting the implementation of bottom-up local and regional science, technology, and innovation. This will help build new economic strength and identity for the region while also supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

Minister of State Martin Heydon remarked:

“There are huge opportunities across the bioeconomy. Scaling-up and demonstrating technologies used to process, extract and refine valuable materials from biobased resources is central to developing the Irish bioeconomy. The two projects funded today will set this in motion, providing industry with pilot plant facilities that can help them to de-risk investment decisions and stimulate innovation in Biorefining and Biomanufacturing.”

Demonstrating economic and job creation benefits for rural areas

Minister of State Senator Pippa Hackett stated:

“I am hugely excited by the opportunities that the bioeconomy offers rural areas – both the economic benefits and the potential for job creation, as well as the immense potential for the bioeconomy to play an important role in tackling the climate crisis. The science behind these projects is cutting edge, but the motivation is simple. We need new, innovative solutions to longstanding problems. Having seen first-hand the aquaculture initiative at Mount Lucas in my home county of Offaly, I believe these demonstrator projects will be key catalysts for the success of the Irish bioeconomy sector.”

Stefan De Keersmaecker, European Commission Coordinating Spokesperson for the European Green Deal and Spokesperson for Regional Policy and Reforms,

“The EU Just Transition Fund is a tangible and impactful tool to support Ireland’s Midlands in its path towards a net-zero economy, ensuring that no region in Ireland gets left behind during the green transition. We welcome the new bioeconomy projects announced today, which are building on existing local assets in biotechnologies to create and strengthen new value chains in the Midlands’ region. They are fully in line with the JTF’s objective, to support innovative and place-based opportunities that will have a lasting impact on the territory and on its people”.

Clare Bannon, Acting Director of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA), the Managing Authority for Ireland’s EU Just Transition Fund Programme, said:

“I welcome the announcement today of the projects that will receive funding through the Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative under the EU Just Transition Fund (EU JTF). It is another significant milestone for the EU JTF Programme as this initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland in its approach to pilot and demonstrate the bioeconomy in action. The selected projects highlight the ingenuity and locally conceived ideas that have the potential to make a lasting impact on the wider Midland region. We also extend our gratitude to all the applicants for their submissions, which have shown dedication to the opportunity that exists in the region.”