Institute of Technology Tralee’s Green Biorefinery Project
The Institute of Technology Tralee (IT Tralee) was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee and in 1992 became the Institute of Technology, Tralee.
The Biorefinery Glas project led by Institute of Technology, Tralee in Ireland is currently demonstrating how grass biorefinery can provide sustainable bioeconomy diversification opportunities for farmers in Ireland and across Europe. The project is processing fresh grass into a range of sustainable protein products, ingredients and energy using a farm-based green biorefinery approach.
The Biorefinery Glas team.
According to project coordinator James Gaffey, "based on our project results so far, we are seeing that despite containing only part of the grass protein, our grass presscake fibre from the green biorefinery is utilised very efficiently by cows, and performs well, both on milk production and emissions, compared with high quality grass silage in cattle feed diets. At the moment, we are evaluating and benchmarking the green biorefinery co-products which include a protein feed for monogastrics, a prebiotic ingredient as well as energy and fertiliser end products. The idea is that, farmers can feed their cows more efficiently and sustainably, while having a range of new, locally-produced products which can support market diversification".
Biorefinery Glas is supporting farmers through knowledge exchange and demonstration activities while also developing new business models and supports which can allow farmers to play a more central role in biobased value chains.