A NATIONAL facility set to help the Tees Valley regain its status as one of the most important chemical industry hubs in the world has been officially opened today.(Mon 16)
The £12m National Industrial Biotechnology Facility based at the Centre for Process Innovation at Wilton will transform the way vital chemicals used to make millions of everyday products are manufactured.
And today Margaret Fay, chairman of One NorthEast, opened the facility and unveiled a plaque to mark the step towards a new age in manufacturing for the area.
The NIBF will help firms replace outmoded traditional chemical processing techniques with cleaner, greener, less wasteful methods – ensuring the region a place at the forefront of the green revolution.
It provides an open access trial and development centre so that businesses can test their ideas to ensure they work and are viable before investing heavily. Once satisfied with the results they will have the evidence to prove a business case to potential backers.
The Tees Valley has a long and proud association with the chemical industry and even at a time of perceived decline more than 30,000 people in the area are still directly employed.
The work of the Centre for Process Innovation will reinforce that bond – creating six new jobs at the facility, with a huge potential for further growth at companies using the facility.
Biotechnology is an emerging field that will use the products of nature to produce environmentally friendly manufacturing methods. It heralds a new dawn for the future growth and prosperity of the process industries; the North East and UK’s leading wealth creator.
Large companies are already seeing the potential in the capability, for example GlaxoSmithKline is working on a development project with CPI.
Another key area of NIBF activity is the development of biorefineries which would use specially grow crops or waste material to produce energy, fuel and heat instead of burning fossil fuels.
CPI is working with a UK Research Institute to take waste biomass and convert it to bioenergy and the demonstrator unit is under construction at the NIBF.
Dr Chris Dowle, director of advanced processing at CPI said: “This facility will benefit companies by allowing them to embrace, test and subsequently apply sustainable manufacturing and energy production. Using industrial biotechnology for modern manufacturing will create reductions in millions of tonnes of waste and energy and more efficient use of the worlds resources’’.
Nigel Perry, chief executive of CPI, said: “This is facility that truly represents what we are about – innovation. The NIBF offers new sustainable ways of making the chemicals society demands in a modern, clean and harmless way.
“Our facilities are state of the art from the equipment itself to our expert and highly capable team. We are marking our territory as leaders in this vital field.”
Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, said: “Science and innovation are at the heart of the Government’s economic strategy for long-term growth and stability.
“Innovation is something we do well and our vision is to make the UK a world leader in science, research and innovation, producing economic value and improving our quality of life.
“Industrial Biotechnology is key to achieving a successful business base in the 21st century and ensuring that the national economy retains competitiveness in the global contact of declining fossil reserves and in and increasing costs of petrochemicals.
“It will also provide a technological base for a sustainable society of the future.
“It is a broad and expanding area with the potential to drive up competitiveness across all sectors in the future, providing business with new products and processes.
“The NIBF in partnership with CoEBIO3 will have a key role to play in helping UK industry take advantage of new developments in biotechnology and to secure a significant part of an estimated global market of $300bn by 2030.”
Margaret Fay, chairman of One NorthEast, said: "The National Industrial Biotechnology Facility has the potential to confirm the North East as a major player on the international stage, and I'm delighted One NorthEast has supported it with £4.3m of funding.
"Bioprocessing and bioenergy are central to our vision for the future of process technologies, energy and our overall progress to becoming one of the first carbon neutral regions, and this facility will help us to grow our economy alongside reducing our carbon and environmental impacts."
The NIBF works by using nature’s catalysts - enzymes - to use biotransformations (fermentation is an example of biotransformation) to produce molecules which are then used to make everything from chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymers to colorants, pesticides and biodiesel.
CPI works in partnership with the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biomanufacturing (CoEBio3) research facility based in Manchester – enabling a new process to be followed seamlessly from conception to production.
The Northern Way has supported the facility with a £3 million investment, as an example of collaboration across the North of England.
Andrew Lewis, director of the Northern Way, said: “The link up between CPI and the University of Manchester is an excellent illustration of the value of cross-Northern links, joining up areas of excellence to create real critical mass in expertise, and translating research into economic opportunity.” |
