ABC economy – a three phase approach to valorising food production waste: PRESENTATION ONLY
Kleemann, R.and Murphy, F., University College Dublin, Ireland
(free)
Ireland has one of the most challenging targets to meet a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on 2005 levels by 2020. Agriculture accounts for 33% of Ireland’s GHG emissions and is expected to increase due to dairy sector expansion caused by the removal of milk quotas. ABC Economy targets the agricultural and forestry sectors to develop bio-based products and energy generation from waste streams in a cascading system of biomass use to reduce GHG emissions. Novel value chains will be created in conjunction with farmers, food processors, and foresters in counties Monaghan and Tipperary.
Workshops were held in each county to understand stakeholders’ opinions on the opportunities and barriers to developing new value chains from their wastes. Major themes to emerge from the workshops include: Communication / Dissemination of Knowledge, Local / Rural Ireland Development, Legislation & Regulation, Incentives / Funding, Perception of Waste, and Characteristics / Separation of Feedstocks. Using this information coupled with detailed data on feedstocks, novel value chains were developed based on technological and market potential. ABC Economy moves beyond current research by conducting full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to highlight the synergies and trade-offs between using biomass for bio-based products and energy generation.
