Government funding boost for bioenergy research centre in NUI, GALWAY – Fahey

NUI, Galway is set to benefit from a funding boost under a new €56 million Government research investment fund, according to local Fianna Fáil TD Frank Fahey.

The funding will be targeted at Competence Centres which are being established in association with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland at universities around the country under the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.

The Competence Centre in NUI, Galway is focussing on bioenergy and biorefining.

Welcoming the funding for the research driven centre, Deputy Fahey said: “The funding approach being taken in association with the Competence Centres such as the one in NUI, Galway, is a departure from the tradition approach to research and development in favour of a collaborative system where companies that might ordinarily be in competition with each other agree to share knowledge, risk and rewards of pooling their research resources.”

“Five Competence Centres are now established in universities around the country, including NUI, Galway, and four more are in the planning. There will be 180 SMEs and multinationals companies involved in the Centres.”

“€32million of funding has been allocated for the first five centres and a further €24 million will be distributed across the nine centres over the next five years.”

“The Centre in NUI, Galway is working in collaboration with UL and UCD and is focussing on bioenergy and biorefining.”

“This is an area of considerable potential for Ireland and I am delighted that NUI, Galway is leading the way in this area. The Centre is examining how bioenergy can be converted into heat and fuel for transport.”

“The market for this area is valued at some €40 billion and is growing at 12 per cent each year. Ireland is rich in the resource and stands to be a leader in the market.”

“These Competence Centres are expected to have real returns for the economy in the next number of years and represent the Government’s strategy to re-boot the economy and create sustainable and jobs,” concluded Frank Fahey TD.