Biobus powered by green energy to come to Limerick

AN INTERACTIVE biobus has set its sights on Limerick as one of a number of destinations as part of a five-week tour of Ireland.

The bus is described as a “first of its kind” and is designed to show people how to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels in everyday life.

The national biobus tour launched as part of this year’s Bioeconomy Ireland Week and was developed by BiOrbic, Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre, which is a national collaboration of researchers from 12 of Ireland’s universities working with industry and other stakeholders, focused on the development of a sustainable, circular bioeconomy.

The inside of the biobus has an apartment-style layout, featuring a bedroom, kitchen, dining area, bathroom.

“Fossil fuel, petroleum, crude oil…whatever you call it, it’s everywhere! And there’s no better place to demonstrate this than inside our homes,” the BiOrbic website states.

“That’s why our exhibit will let you explore a standard Irish household and discover just how many day to day products we rely on that have crude oil components,” they added.

The exhibition educates the everyday person on the fact that crude oil is a widely used fossil fuel. Crude oil is used to make natural produce, “think of fertilisers and pesticides,” the website states. Even the ink and glue used in the books we read have been developed from crude oil.

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The exhibition aims to get the everyday person thinking about how we can transition away from fossil fuels. “That’s where bioeconomy comes in,” BiOrbic said.

“Finding novel ways of producing the things we need from plants, animals and microbes instead. We’ll show you some of the weirdest examples we’ve found, as well as some local or common products you can start using today,” the BiOrbic website states.

The biobus will be stationed at Honan’s Quay in the city on Saturday, October 28 between 10am and 2pm.

The tours will cover 36 locations including Gaeltacht communities, visiting every county and inviting schools, community groups and individuals to learn about the bioeconomy and how local companies are already developing innovative bio-based products.

The bus will be powered by 100% renewable plant waste matter provided by Irish company Certa.

Professor Kevin O’Connor, director of BiOrbic explains what visitors to the Biobus can expect: “The Biobus explores just how much we rely on fossil fuels and presents examples of everyday bio-based products, with many of these examples coming from home-grown Irish companies or Irish research projects.

“What may be shocking to Biobus visitors is how our reliance on fossil fuels goes much further than just energy, fuel and plastic. Almost every modern-day product contains some element of petrochemicals, which is unsustainable. The bioeconomy provides what society needs from renewable, bio-based sources such as plants, animals and microbes.

“We are at the early stages of a bio-revolution, where we will transition from a dependence on fossil resources to a more sustainable and balanced circular bioeconomy. Ireland is particularly well placed to be a leader in this space. We already have

Agri-food and Marine industries of global significance as well as a profile of large companies and SMEs driving innovation with sustainability to the fore,” Prof O’Connor said.

As well as reducing waste through the production of biodegradable materials, the bioeconomy approach can help meet Ireland’s climate targets by establishing a sustainable, circular and environmentally friendly economy.