Scotland Commercializing the Biorefinery Concept

(Algae Industry Magazine) Scotland is planning the move from an oil-based economy to a bio-based future. A key principle of the government’s desire to embrace a more circular economy in the process is the broad application of Industrial Biotechnology (IB). IB applications drive Scotland’s “Biorefinery Roadmap,” specifically via the development and realization of a number of biorefineries across the country.

IBioIC is supporting Xanthella, a small industrial design company that is working on producing systems to grow microalgae. They are championing the use of algae as a new high value industry for remote and rural areas by using cheap renewable energy to power the photobioreactors that are used to grow the algae.

The ASLEE (Algal Solutions for a Local Energy Economy) project will look at the technical and economic viability of creating a predictable demand for renewable electricity through manufacturing in remote and rural areas, producing a sustainable competitive advantage.

The project will also investigate how biomanufacturing can allow more deployment of renewables in these areas, thus improving the local economy, with scalability and a good fit with local resources. READ MORE