Biorenewables centre invests £3m in up-scaling equipment

YORK-BASED Biorenewables Development Centre has commissioned £3m worth of equipment to expand capacity.

THe BDC’s increased capacity will allow more firms to explore processes and products using bio-based materials.

The investment from the York Science Park-based firm has been made across genetic analysis and fermentation technologies.

Debs Rathbone, feedstock development unit manager said: “It has been a busy year for the BDC: we’ve been commissioning the new equipment we added to our technology platforms and have also just completed 200 funded projects with small and medium sized businesses from all over Yorkshire and the Humber.

“Building on our experience of delivering these funded projects, this additional European Regional Development Fund investment is allowing us to make enhancements and improvements to our services.

“We have also recently expanded our base on the Chessingham Park Industrial Estate at Dunnington where we can work with businesses looking to establish commercial production facilities adjacent to the BDC.”

The new equipment will allow the BDC to test the building blocks of plants and microbes, run fermentation trials with food wastes, and modify equipment to increase capacity.