SFI Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research
Follow
AMBER Investigator gets green light for Circular Biobased Projects
Green Biorefineries for resilient farming and rural areas
Circular bioplastics upcycling solutions reducing plastics in society
AMBER, the SFI Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research is delighted to announce that Professor Ramesh Babu has 2 projects selected for funding under the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint (CBE JU) Undertaking.
The CBE JU has concluded the evaluation and 30 proposals have been selected to receive nearly €215.5 million of CBE JU funding with Professor Babu being involved with 2. The first project which Prof Babu is a partner with and James Gaffey (MTU) the lead is Rural BioReFarmeries – Green BioReFarmeries. This project involves small-scale Circular Green Biorefineries for increasing farmer sustainability and competitiveness and building resilient rural areas.
The Rural BioReFarmeries project will create a blueprint for farmers to sustainably diversify into the bioeconomy, reducing their farm emissions while creating new products which displace unsustainable alternatives in a range of agri-food markets. Rural BioReFarmeries model will be replicated in diverse regions of Europe, supported by the development of inclusive business models and hands-on training among multi-actor groups and communities in regions of high potential. This project will demonstrate the decentralised and farm-scale biorefinery based on grass for producing animal feed, biobased packaging, food ingredients, bioenergy, and fertilisers.
The project represents a highly replicable model for Europe’s abundant grasslands, helping farmers to deal with sustainability and profitability challenges while helping rural communities to become more resilient while realizing the potential of their local bioresources.
The second project which Prof Babu has secured funding for is ReBioCycle – A new European blueprint for circular bioplastics upcycling solutions led By Kevin O’Connor (UCD/BiOrbic). ReBioCycle proves a portfolio of bioplastic sorting and recycling technologies within 3 complementary waste-processor-centric HUB at DEMO scale and in the real operational environment the effective and efficient recycling of 3x types of bioplastics (PLA, PHA, Mater- Bi) to demonstrate higher impact of obtaining the same or superior grade recycled polymers and other higher value applications.
Speaking following the signing of the grant agreements, Professor Ramesh said the 2 projects selected for CBE JU funding “will provide an opportunity to demonstrate our sustainable circular solutions at a demo scale arising from our fundamental research in developing value-added and new bio-based materials from renewable resources.”
Read More about CBE JU awarded projects: https://www.cbe.europa.eu/cbe-ju-2023-call-projects?pk_source=newsletter&pk_medium=email&pk_campaign=newproj23
AMBER has a strong emphasis on collaboration. Central to AMBER’s research remit are collaborative projects performed with industry partners, and working with academic, industry and wider stakeholder on international and national research programmes.
Get in touch