The Irish Bioeconomy Definition, Structure, and Situational Analysis The Irish Bioeconomy - Definition, Structure, and Situational Analysis Dr Eilín Walsh1 Dr Kevin McDonnell1 Dr Laura Devaney2 Dr Maeve Henchion2 Mr Ultan Shanahan2 Mr Pádraic Ó hUiginn3a 3b Mr James Gaffey3a Mr Bart Bonsall3a Mr Owenroe Lemass3a Prof Vincent O’Flaherty3b Mr Paul O’Reilly4 1 School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin 2 Department of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis, Teagasc Food Research Centre 3a tcbb RESOURCE (previously the Irish Technology Centre for Biorefining and Bioenergy (TCBB), National University of Ireland, Galway 3b School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway 4 Department of Management Studies, Dublin Institute of Technology This interim report of the BioÉire project represents a description of the current bioeconomy in Ireland and sets the scene for analysis of the opportunities to expand the Irish bioeconomy in line with the Europe 2020, Innovation Union, and Resource Efficient Europe initiatives outlined by the European Union. A Bioeconomy for Ireland - the BioÉire project - is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Competitive Research Call 2014 Foreword In the last ten years Ireland has experienced both the exhilarating high of economic boom and the crushing low of recession. While the Celtic Tiger brought significant employment and production, a harsh lesson that was quickly learned was the vulnerability of the national economy. Although much of the Celtic Tiger boom was related to construction and thus much of the job losses associated with the recession was in this sector, the current recovery period offers an opportunity to find secure and sustainable ways to re-establish the Irish economy as a whole. A prime example of how this could be achieved is by increasing the use of indigenous organic materials, obtaining greater value from the by-products and side streams of current production processes, and exploring and developing new products and processing opportunities from underutilised resources. Ireland’s biological sectors are responsible for significant employment, produce substantial volumes of outputs with formidable financial value, and play a role in feeding an ever- growing global population. The agri-food industry (incorporating fisheries and forestry) employs over 8% of the national workforce, is responsible for 7.6% of total gross value added, and produces exports worth more than €10 bn annually. A number of government strategies are in place to increase production levels and outputs of the agriculture, food, forestry, marine, and renewable energy industries. There is currently no specific strategy in place which views these industries as sub-sectors of the bioeconomy as a whole, however. Adopting a mentality of supply web rather than supply chain illustrates the overlap between various sub-sectors of biological production and highlights the potential for one sub-sector to feed directly into another to create new or to develop immature processes or products. Expanding these crossovers will require assistance and support to take advantage of new value-added opportunities which will benefit the economy as a whole by reducing waste, creating employment, increasing production and exports, and enhancing production sustainability. Identifying the most appropriate opportunities to expand these sectors is essential to ensuring support mechanisms are targeted correctly and used efficiently. Following a significant review and analysis of the current status of the Irish bioeconomy and all its sub-sectors, a number of interviews were performed with key players positioned within the Irish bioeconomy or an international bioeconomy. These interviews offered an opportunity to obtain informed opinions and views as to where the Irish bioeconomy has potential to be expanded and developed. Including international experts facilitated discussion relating to both the possibilities and the problems encountered when developing a bioeconomy designed to take advantage of a country’s own specific resources. The primary outcome of these interviews was a longlist of generalised value chains which are considered to be underdeveloped or non-existent in an Irish context. Generalising the value chains allowed discussion relating to the possibility of the development of the value chain rather than the output of a specific product, i.e. the discussion was not focussed on the manufacture of product A from feedstock B but rather looked at all the possible uses of feedstock B as a source of materials, chemicals, food, etc such that each use of feedstock B could then be explored in detail. Subsequent discussion of these value chains with an expert group allowed a shortlist of generalised value chains to be generated for discussion and evaluation later in the BioÉire project. The ultimate aim of the BioÉire project is to identify up to eight value chains which will be evaluated in terms of technical viability, economic viability, and sustainability thus informing development of integrated measures to overcome barriers and facilitate exploitation of commercial opportunities for the expansion of the Irish bioeconomy. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................1 1.1. Definition of ‘Bioeconomy’ as a Concept ...................................................................2 1.2. The Global Bioeconomy and Ireland’s Place in it.......................................................4 1.3. Ireland’s Natural Value................................................................................................6 1.4. Additional Contextual Information..............................................................................8 1.4.1 Glossary and Abbreviations.................................................................................10 2. Current Status of the Irish Bioeconomy.......................................................13 2.1. Primary Inputs into the Irish Bioeconomy.................................................................14 2.1.1 Agricultural Resources.........................................................................................14 2.1.1.1. The Importance and Relevance of the Agricultural Supply Chain in Ireland 14 2.1.1.2. Structural Features .......................................................................................15 2.1.1.3. Economic Profile .........................................................................................18 2.1.1.3.1. Employment, Income, and Economic Sustainability............................18 2.1.1.3.2. National Contribution ...........................................................................21 2.1.1.4. Inputs to the Agricultural Supply Chain ......................................................22 2.1.1.4.1. Feed.......................................................................................................23 2.1.1.4.2. Synthetic Chemicals..............................................................................27 2.1.1.4.3. Water.....................................................................................................30 2.1.1.4.4. Other Farm Inputs.................................................................................31 2.1.2 Forestry Resources...............................................................................................34 2.1.2.1. The Importance and Relevance of the Forestry Sector in Ireland ...............34 2.1.2.1.1. Environmental and Social Benefits of Forestry in Ireland....................39 2.1.2.2. Structural Features .......................................................................................40 2.1.2.3. Economic Profile .........................................................................................42 2.1.2.4. Inputs in Forestry .........................................................................................43 2.1.2.4.1. Seeds .....................................................................................................43 1.1.1.1.1. Chemicals in Forestry...........................................................................45 2.1.1 Marine Resources.................................................................................................46 2.1.1.1. Fisheries .......................................................................................................47 2.1.1.2. Macro Algae.................................................................................................47 2.1.2 Energy Crops Resources......................................................................................49 2.1.2.1. Purpose-Grown Energy Crops .....................................................................49 2.1.2.1.1. Employment..........................................................................................53 2.1.2.2. Other Resources...........................................................................................54 2.2. Secondary Inputs into the Irish Bioeconomy.............................................................56 2.2.1 Organic By-Products Derived from Municipal Waste Collection and Treatment 56 2.2.1.1. Municipal waste...........................................................................................56 2.2.1.1.1. Biodegradable Municipal Waste...........................................................57 2.2.1.1.2. Paper and Board Waste.........................................................................58