Our Offer in a consortia;
Pilot-scale validation (TRL 4 to 8) of forest-derived feedstock conversion, with mass and energy balances, by-product valorisation pathway identification and testing.
Open-access, confidential (NDA) or hybrid trial models, so industry partners keep IP control
TEA at pilot-derived data quality, to de-risk investment and support market uptake claims
Downstream processing and drying capacity for product-grade samples
Anaerobic digestion and biomethane routes for residual fractions, supporting cascading use
Skills and training, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement.

Topic 3: Timber and Innovative Wood-Based Products (cross-cutting)
Valorisation of sawmill co-products, bark, sawdust, harvesting residues and wood-panel process residues into chemicals, materials and ingredients
Fractionation (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) and conversion via enzymatic, hydrothermal and fermentation routes
Biobased chemical inputs for bioplastics, volatile compounds and materials
Scale-up of promising lab-scale wood-derived products from grams to kilograms
Biobased alternatives such as carbon materials from woody feedstocks

Topic 4: Forest Value Chains, Markets and Governance (cross-cutting)
Pilot-data-based TEA of forest biorefinery value chains
Cascading use, industrial symbiosis and regional feedstock logistics (forest owners, sawmills, panel producers, processors)
Business models and investment readiness for forest-based SMEs and cooperatives
Alignment with the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, Just Transition and rural development case study, with Lisheen as a core

Partners we are seeking
Forest science groups (feedstock characterisation, sustainable supply, forest management)
Wood products and sawmill industry, including panel and engineered timber producers
Biorefinery and fractionation technology developers (lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose)
Market, policy and governance researchers (value chains, certification, LCA)
Forest owner organisations, cooperatives and public authorities
Coordinator-ready research organisations in at least two EU-funding-eligible countries

Proposed role: Work package leader or participant for pilot validation, process scale-up and TEA plus training and dissemination.

The National Biorefinery Pilot Plant (NBPP) is Ireland’s first dedicated open-access pilot biorefinery. Located at the National Bioeconomy Campus at Lisheen, Co. Tipperary, a former mine site now being repurposed as a national hub for bioeconomy innovation under a Just Transition framework. The plant is operated by the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF) and was developed with €4.7M from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment through Enterprise Ireland (Regional Enterprise Development Fund). The BioScaleUp project (€5M, DAFM, EMRA and the EU Just Transition Fund) is equipping and staffing the facility, demonstrating six biobased technologies and building a skills and training hub.

NBPP bridges the gap between laboratory results and commercial deployment (TRL 4 to 8). The facility integrates:

Biomass pre-treatment: size reduction and processing
Aerobic and anaerobic fermentation, plus photobioreactors (3 to 6000L)
Downstream processing: centrifugation, membrane filtration, forward osmosis, solvent extraction and recovery
Preservation and concentration: short path distillation, pervaporation, spray and drum drying
Anaerobic digestion for biomethane; 2 stage and conventional AD systems (2500L)
An analytical/ microbiological laboratory with real-time process monitoring
Techno-economic (TEA) support

Operations are GMP-aligned, with documented SOPs, ATEX-compliant zones and a full utilities suite (including 850 kg/hr steam). The facility runs NBPP-managed, client-managed (NDA-protected) and hybrid project models, generating the process data and scale-up evidence that investors and industry need to scale their bio-based innovations.