Why do we need the Bioprocess Pilot Facility?
Companies and universities invest a lot of research into sustainable production processes to replace current, more polluting processes. Switching to sustainable processes is key for reducing pollution and its adverse affect on health and the environment as well as minimizing the contribution of greenhouse gases towards climate change. Sustainable bioprocesses rely on renewable biomass instead of limited, fossil-based resources. They have been studied and developed in laboratories and the results are highly promising. But how do they behave on a larger scale? This major issue has to be addressed before companies can begin to scale-up new processes in order to apply them on an industrial scale.
Scale-up research is very risky and requires extensive experimentation using complex equipment. It is currently the main bottleneck in the development of sustainable alternatives to current processes that not only pollute the environment but also use up precious raw materials. A pilot facility dedicated to bioprocess scale-up is so complex and expensive that it can only be realized in a broad collaboration. This is why universities, companies and public authorities have joined forces in creating the Bioprocess Pilot Facility.
