Enhancing the ‘green economy’ and applying excellent science to stimulate new job creation
The BEACON Biorefining Centre of Excellence is led by Aberystwyth University in collaboration with partners at Bangor and Swansea universities. It was established in 2011 with £10.6 million of EU funding support through the Welsh Government, and received the prestigious Regiostars Award in 2014.
BEACON supports Wales-based companies to develop renewable energy products and services, assisting in the transition to a low carbon economy and helping to mitigate the impact of climate change. BEACON and BEACON+ uses biorefining expertise at Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea universities to support research and development at small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). BEACON facilities are located at the three universities and are used to create integrated supply chains involving growers, processors (industry and academia) and end users (industrial partners).
Partners collaborate to form a network across the supply chain to improve knowledge transfer between the different groups. BEACON also supports the creation of highly skilled jobs by allowing SMEs to develop intellectual property into products and increase profitability.
New ‘green jobs’ have been created through BEACON by assisting Welsh companies to develop innovative products. It has already contributed to the creation of 52 jobs in Wales while assisting more than 140 companies and 50 collaborative and research and development projects. The BEACON company network is pan-Wales and continues to grow.