Enhancing and Assessing the Impact of Novel Circular Economy Sectors in the bioeconomy

Project Description

The purpose of this project is to assess the impact of novel circular economy sectors within the Irish biomass bioeconomy and issues in relation to scale-up. The project will undertake several analytical tasks for a number of different Case Studies. In each case study, the project will undertake a Horizon Scanning exercise with industry stakeholders to identify market opportunities for the relevant sector and a value chain map will be developed to define potential routes to market and assess the potential gains across value chains. A qualitative exercise will be undertaken with technical and commercial experts to assess barriers to scale-up. Finally the knowledge part of the sectoral roll-out will be assessed using an Innovation System Approach, mapping the Knowledge and Innovation System from Lab to Market, including innovation support and training required to facilitate scale-up. A qualitative exercise will be undertaken with knowledge transfer specialists to identify and assess adoption challenges. The economic, environmental, social and spatial impact will be assessed for each case study, including the engineering requirements of each technology and the substitution impact on other sectors of these novel technologies, adapting the Bioeconomy Input Output model (BIO) to model the output and employment multiplier. A stylised Life-Cycle assessment of the net effect of the technologies on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions will be undertaken using the BIO-LCA model. The Simulation Model of the Irish Local Economy (SMILE) will be adapted to simulate the local economy impact of new technologies.