EXPECT
- Title:
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Expanding the alternative use and circularity potential of crops (EXPECT)
- Start Date:
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1/10/2021
- End Date:
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1/10/2025
- Funding Body:
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Teagasc Walsh Scholarship
- Coordinator:
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Dr. Susanne Barth, Teagasc
- Project Partners:
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CEEES (UCC), Teagasc
- Principal Investigators:
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Dr. Susanne Barth, Dr. David Wall, Dr. Richard O’Shea, Dr. Maeve Henchion, Dr. Fiona Thorne
- Project Manager:
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Ewen Mullins, Teagasc
- Research Area:
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Biorefinery, circular economy, bio-based economy
Introduction
The EXPECT project aims to expand the alternative uses and circularity potential of crops in Ireland by putting them through cascading use in a biorefinery approach. It will achieve this by a holistic consideration of socio-political, technical and economic aspects involved. Grass, being the most important crop in Ireland, is the primary focus in the project. A two-stage anaerobic digestion technology producing valuable biochemicals (VFAs) and biogas in a demand-driven manner will be validated. The Delphi method will be used to identify the potential value chains, and socio-political enablers and barriers involved in grass-based biorefining. This will be followed by bio-economic modelling and techno-economic assessment to investigate the feasibility of biorefineries at a range of scales. Using this multi-disciplinary approach, a framework for green biorefinery development in Ireland will be co-designed.
Aim
To co-design a framework for the development of green biorefineries in Ireland.
Work Packages
- Experimental trials for the production of VFAs and biogas using a novel two-stage reactor
- Techno-economic analysis of grass biorefineries at a range of scales
- Farm-level Economic Assessment of alternative feedstock solutions for green biorefineries in Ireland
- Co-designing a development pathway for green biorefineries in Ireland using the Delphi study approach
