Aberystwyth University unveils new research facilities

 

The BEACON biorefining centre at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), has unveiled new research facilities as part of a UK£20 million (US$31.7 million) initiative. The centre is the first of its kind in Wales and houses large-scale equipment capable of taking laboratory research and scaling up to produce commercial products, services and technologies.

The new facilities are already enabling businesses to develop new ways of converting crops such as rye grass, oats and miscanthus (elephant grass) into products including platform chemicals, fuels and cosmetics. Read more ...

Miscanthus promises to be the bioenergy crop of the future

In fields around the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales they are planting crops of Miscanthus. The plots contain hundreds of different types of Miscanthus, but it is not for its aesthetic appeal that Miscanthus is being grown in Wales, rather its promise as a bioenergy crop. Researchers at IBERS have been undertaking a large-scale study of the plant for the last six years in the hope of providing improved varieties for energy production. Dr Elaine Jensen, has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to study the plants' flowering times. Read more ...