For the past six years, researchers at the BiOrbic Research Ireland Centre have been working to enable a vibrant sustainable circular bioeconomy through research excellence, innovation and the development of the bioeconomy leaders of the future. Supported by Research Ireland, BiOrbic works with food producers and industry to selectively separate and extract valuable compounds from renewable materials, converting those resources into novel bio-based products and processes, delivering market and industry-scalable sustainable resources.
“The bioeconomy is the part of the economy which uses renewable resources from agriculture, forestry and the marine to produce food, feed, materials and energy, while reducing waste, in support of achieving a sustainable and climate neutral society,” explains BiOrbic director Kevin O’Connor.
Earlier this year, BiOrbic was one of four Research Ireland Centres to receive phase-two funding for the next six years. The centre’s phase-two programme involves an innovative challenge-based approach to connect expertise from academia, industry, policy and society to help realise the full potential of the bioeconomy, moving from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy, creating jobs in rural and coastal communities, decoupling economic prosperity from environmental degradation, and supporting Ireland and Europe to meet and exceed their climate targets.
“The bioeconomy is as large and complex as the fossil economy,” O’Connor points out. “We need to understand all the moving parts, how they fit together, and where everything ends up.”
That includes understanding how to make things for everyday use that are bio-based and not fossil-based, how to make them sustainably, how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the process more circular.
“We don’t want to replace a linear polluting fossil economy with a linear polluting bioeconomy. It’s a big elephant and we want to take bite-sized chunks out of it.”
Balance is critically important. “The bioeconomy exists in nature,” he continues. “We all exist in nature and everything we do has an impact on it. We have to recognise the need to be in balance with nature. How do we protect biodiversity, our coastal marine environment, and our peatlands which are potential carbon sinks and source of biodiversity? People think biodiversity is nice to have but the bioeconomy is dependent on biodiversity.”
Achieving that balance goes beyond the type of resources utilised. “We must make sure that our operational systems are in balance with nature. We don’t want to use huge amounts of fuel in food production, for example. We want to move toward nature-neutral or nature-positive systems if possible.”
The new challenge-based programme will focus on biodiversity, resource efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and bioeconomy systems to support the development of a climate-neutral circular bioeconomy.
The teams addressing the challenges are drawn from different backgrounds and bring many perspectives and expertise to bear. “The co-development of strategies is really important,” says O’Connor. “You have to break down silos to get people to co-operate and think about new solutions. Interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral thinking can make people uncomfortable, but we need that if we are to solve complex challenges.”
An example of that is the marine challenge which is looking at seaweed harvesting and processing. He points out that while it is a vastly underexploited resource, the marine environment still needs to be protected. Having biodiversity experts as part of the challenge team to look at sustainable ways of extracting the value is very important in that regard.
The valorisation of waste is another challenge but also an area of opportunity, he notes. “With the best will in the world, we all generate waste. It’s inevitable. We need to minimise waste and retain the value of what we produce for as long as possible. We need to ask what the product is, what is its side stream, what is its waste stream.”
He points to whey in the dairy industry as an example of waste valorisation. “It was seen as a waste and they used to mix it with pig feed, but they couldn’t give it all to them and it ended up polluting the water. Then they figured out a way to extract proteins from it and it has now become a high-value product that has allowed Irish dairy companies to expand into America and around the world.”
BiOrbics activities are not confined to research. “Our vision is to translate research and get it out of the lab and into society,” says O’Connor. “We are about policy as well. We have policy experts, economists, and educational experts as well as scientists here. We want to disseminate information about all aspects of the bioeconomy and engage stakeholders in multiple ways. We also want to influence policy by giving policymakers the data on which they can base their decisions.”