Ireland’s First On-Farm Green Biorefinery and Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Plant Launched

Ireland’s first Green Biorefinery and Anaerobic Digestion demonstration plant was officially launched at Farm Zero C on 2 September 2026 by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD.  

The launch follows a €3.1 million investment by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in state-of-the-art on-farm biorefinery infrastructure, creating one of the largest research facilities of its kind. The facility is also supported through the €7.35 million Rural BioReFarmeries project, funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). 

The facility is a collaboration between Munster Technological University (MTU), University College Dublin (UCD), Carbery Group, University of Galway, BiOrbic Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy and Shinagh Estates. The facility is the result of almost a decade of research and collaboration through initiatives including Biorefinery Glas, Farm Zero C and Rural BioReFarmeries. 

The demonstration facility will help advance green biorefinery technologies that transform grass into high-value products, including high-protein feed, a fibre fraction for packaging and livestock feed, bioenergy and biofertiliser, with the potential to produce ingredients for human nutrition in the future. 

Congratulations to everyone across the research and industry teams involved in this project!