Ireland’s first grass biorefinery and AD plant launched
In Ireland, the country’s first on-farm demonstration-scale biorefinery integrating grass biorefining and anaerobic digestion was recently inaugurated in Cork. Funded by Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the €3 million facility will serve as the Irish demonstration site for Rural BioReFarmeries, which receives approximately €7.35 million in CBE JU funding.
Coordinated by Munster Technological University (MTU), Rural BioReFarmeries brings together 19 partners from eight countries to test a farmer-centered, small-scale biorefinery model under real farming conditions and assess its potential for replication across Europe’s grassland regions.
The inauguration was led by Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, at Farm Zero C, located at Shinagh Estates Demonstration Farm near Bandon in West Cork. Virginia Puzzolo, Head of Program at CBE JU, joined representatives of public authorities, research organizations, industry and the farming community.
Held during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, the inauguration highlighted how coordinated European and national investment can strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of rural bioeconomies.
Category: Fuels
