Food and Biofuels Facilty Opens for Business

The doors opened on a new £25 million research facility for biofuels, brewing science and food and drink processing at The University of Nottingham in October, with aims to advance innovative and sustainable solutions for the benefit of industry.

The Bioenergy and Brewing Science Building on the University’s Sutton Bonington Campus will feature a new state of the art microbrewery – small in comparison with SABMiller’s new £2million pilot plant which is also housed in the building – but the biggest research facility of its kind in the country.

The new building will also be home to one ofthe six BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre research programmes, set up to develop sustainable bioenergy fuels from industrial and agricultural waste materials. The new food processing facility, equipped with everything from a bakery to the latest analytical equipment, will support the food industry in its
quest to develop new products from conception to consumption.

The official opening of this distinctive new building, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), is one of the highlights in the launch of the University’s biggest ever fund raising campaign, Impact: The
Nottingham Campaign aims to raise £150million over the next five years to transform research, enrich the student experience and enable the University to make a greater contribution to the communities it serve.

Katherine Smart, Professor of Brewing Science, said: “The state of the art facilities housed in the new Bioenergy and Brewing Science Building will provide an excellent foundation for the development of innovative technologies for the global and regional brewing, food and bioenergy sectors. This would not have been possible without significant investment from the ERDF, SABMiller, BBSRC and the University for which I am very grateful.”

The Food and Biofuel Innovation Centre is housed within the building and is open to businesses across the East Midlands. In particular, small and medium sized enterprises are being invited to make use of the expertise,
technology and other facilities within the building to develop new products and improve their competitive edge.