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30 March 2026
Researchers at the University of York, Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, supported by the BDC have launched a groundbreaking project to develop a fully sustainable, bio-based method for producing dihydronepetalactone (DHN), a powerful insect repellent derived from the essential oil of the catmint plant.
10 December 2025
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has published the final report detailing the H2Boost project, an innovative biorefinery aimed at producing sustainable hydrogen from waste and advancing a promising carbon-negative solution to support the UK's climate goals.
2 December 2025
Our collaboration with precision fermentation company Better Dairy is set to accelerate the development of a valuable dietary protein—Osteopontin (OPN). OPN is a powerful bioactive protein found in breastmilk that can support infant growth and cognitive development, immune function, and gut health.
13 November 2025
York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority, the University of York and Teesside University have announced a partnership which aims to create around 5,000 skilled jobs across the two regions.
10 September 2025
The BDC and UK-based biotech company CroBio have secured an Engineering Biology SPARK Award from InnovateUK. This funding will support a collaborative project aimed at developing a non-genetically modified (non-GM) microbial soil amendment to help crops withstand drought, a growing challenge driven by climate change.
1 April 2025
Professor James Moir has been appointed as the new Chair of the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC). This strategic leadership transition comes at an important time as the BDC strengthens its position as a crucial bridge between regional innovation, economic development, and the UK's national net-zero commitments.
26 February 2025
Discover how CroBio, the Biorenewables Development Centre, and the University of York are revolutionising soil health with a £670k project to develop microbial soil amendments that aim to significantly improve water retention, nutrient preservation, and carbon sequestration in agricultural soils.
17 December 2024
Alongside our partner Activatec, we have been recognised for our groundbreaking research converting whey permeate into lactobionic acid – a valuable ingredient in industries such as cosmetics.
11 November 2024
The BDC-led H2Boost project has become the first to successfully produce hydrogen at scale through a biological process, while also capturing the carbon dioxide.
In a landmark achievement for the UK’s green energy sector, researchers are now looking to expand the new technology to support the UK's net zero ambitions.
8 November 2024
The government-backed H2Boost project, led by the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC), recently hosted a delegation from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to its demonstration facility near Selby. The visit highlighted the project's innovative approach to clean hydrogen production and carbon capture, which could support the UK's net-zero ambitions.
29 October 2024
The government funded project will see Adaptavate collaborating with the BDC to establish a carbon storing feedstock source and create a cost-comparable, first-of-its-kind carbon-negative plasterboard alternative
10 October 2024
Alongside our consortium partners, we have successfully launched a demonstration-scale biohydrogen production and carbon capture facility at The Maltings, a food waste processing facility near Selby, North Yorkshire.
30 August 2024
The Biofibre Special Interest Group (SIG) launched its initiative with a successful event spotlighting innovation across the biofibre supply chain. Representatives from seed producers and farmers to processors, manufacturers, and construction companies gathered to discuss the industry's current state, growth potential, and strategies for achieving it.
19 July 2024
Thermapad, Mayplas’ newly launched thermal insulation product for suspended ceiling systems made from UK-grown industrial hemp, has been installed at our offices near York.
16 May 2024
Ambitious research being led by scientists at Teesside University is helping to create a circular economy for biomanufacturing industries which rely on fermentation to make their products.
25 April 2024
We are pleased to announce the allocation of funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, through North Yorkshire Council, facilitating a groundbreaking 15-month initiative aimed at advancing the biofibre supply chain in Yorkshire.
13 March 2024
The Biorenewables Development Centre are pleased to share that they have joined the BBIA
12 March 2024
Early March marked two significant site visits for the H2BoostProject which is funded through the Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme, part of the government's £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
9 February 2024
The Biorenewables Development Centre (a subsidiary of the University of York) and partners are working with Wellfield Farm in North Yorkshire to spearhead a groundbreaking project aimed at revolutionising farming practices and enhancing sustainability through the repurposing of existing depleted deep gas wells to produce the geothermal energy.
23 January 2024
Visitors to the Design Museum in London are in for a treat as the Biorenewables Development Centre's groundbreaking laboratory project for Faber Futures takes the spotlight. The project, which involved cutting-edge biodesign techniques, is featured in an exhibition film curated by Future Observatory, the museum's national research programme dedicated to the green transition.
20 December 2023
Here at the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) we are delighted to welcome Louise Overzet from Maastricht University who is on a six month placement with us. To welcome Louise we asked a few questions about the work she will carry out whilst she is here. Over to Louise….
19 December 2023
Activatec, a leading biotech company, and the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC), an open-access Research, Development and Demonstration biorefining centre have announced a new collaboration, supported by Innovate UK. The focus of this partnership is to transform industrial waste, specifically dairy waste streams, into valuable eco-friendly resources for the cosmetic, food, pharmaceutical, and chemical sectors.
13 December 2023
Here at the Biorenewables Development Centre, our newly installed batch BMP system comprises 30 individual vessels, a game-changer for monitoring biogas yield during anaerobic digestion (AD) and dark fermentation.
6 December 2023
The Biorenewables Development Centre, Kilnsey Park Estate and the University of York’s Centre for Novel Agricultural Products have won funding from Innovate UK to develop a novel circular model for food production to produce resource-efficient, healthy and low-emission food such as leafy salads and vegetables.
20 November 2023
The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) is offering a mentorship programme to businesses located in North Yorkshire, City of York and Redcar & Cleveland who are addressing sustainability or circularity in their products or services.
6 November 2023
We are pleased to announce that Dr Mark Corbett has been appointed as the new Director of the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC). With over twenty years’ experience working in academia and industry, Mark has a wealth of experience delivering strategic research and innovation projects and partnerships.
20 September 2023
We have been awarded three new feasibility projects to collaborate with industry to develop and improve sustainable biomanufacturing in the UK. This joint investment is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Innovate UK and overall will support 34 feasibility studies across the UK.
6 September 2023
This summer the Biorenewables Development Centre is celebrating the end of a series of programmes supporting the growth of the bioeconomy in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
11 August 2023
Following on from the successful Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme Phase 1 funding for the H2-Boost project, the BDC and partners have successfully been awarded £5 million for a phase 2 project.
20 July 2023
We have been awarded two new projects as part of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Farming Innovation Programme.
3 July 2023
Our colleagues in the Process Development Unit and the Bioscience Innovation team have co-authored the article ‘Acrylic acid and DMSP lyases in the green algae Ulva’ in the July edition of the Algal Research journal.
21 June 2023
Materials science Masters student from Esher co-founds the company behind the innovation.
15 June 2023
A new research project aims to help UK farmers and growers to target Net Zero and increase crop resilience.
13 June 2023
Scientists from the University of York are collaborating on a new environmentally-friendly research project to use vertical farming facilities to grow amaranth - a new source of alternative plant protein.
13 June 2023
The UK’s national landowner, The Crown Estate, has commissioned Additive.earth – a non-profit organisation that aims to redirect £50 billion of investment into climate and nature recovery by 2030 – to explore and develop the concept of Aquaculture Enterprise Zones (AEZs) around England and Wales.
9 May 2023
BioVale are involved in a NERC-commissioned project to build the economic case for environmental sciences as integral for a prosperous and sustainable bioeconomy in the UK (and vice versa).
19 April 2023
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and its partners have announced new feasibility awards to develop and improve sustainable biomanufacturing in the UK.
16 March 2023
Members of the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) Board visited the University to hear more about our world-leading research around the bioeconomy.
22 February 2023
Thirty-five academic and private partners from across Europe and China are now working together on the AgriLoop project, which will develop sustainable processes to convert agri-food residues into high-value, eco-friendly products for use in food, feed and bio-based materials.
14 February 2023
Our ambitious vision is to support the widespread use of biorenewables across the world and we have already helped over 500 businesses to explore bio-based process and product opportunities by providing technical data and specialist advice to inform business decisions. With the up and coming retirement of our current Director, we are now seeking to appoint a new Director to continue the work at BDC to build the bioeconomy regionally, nationally and globally.
26 August 2022
The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) is part of two new Hydrogen BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage) Innovation Programme projects which has been funded by the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) that have been awarded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
26 July 2022
We are delighted to announce that our Project and Communications Manager, Anna Alessi has been awarded a Future Observatory Design Ecosystem Fellowship.
18 July 2022
Over 500 skilled jobs could be created at a bio business park being planned for York.
15 June 2022
On Thursday 9th June academics, industry partners, investors, funders and business-support programmes came together in York to celebrate four successful years of the THYME project; a collaboration between the Universities of Teesside, Hull and York.
11 March 2022
Science Minister George Freeman today visited the BioYorkshire initiative – a partnership between University of York, Fera Science and Askham Bryan College – aiming to transform York and North Yorkshire into the UK’s first carbon negative region and be a hub for green innovation, skills development and inward investment.
17 December 2021
We have won a £400K I-UK project ‘High-Value Biorenewable Peptides from Proteinaceous Biomass’ in collaboration with Bell & Loxton Innovations, a highly innovative circular economy spin-out from a working oilseed rape farm in South Devon, and Thomas Swan & Company Ltd.
26 August 2021
The first stage of an ambitious ten-year roadmap designed to boost the production and processing of industrial hemp across the UK has won government backing.
22 July 2021
The THYME project has been awarded funding of £1.8M from Research England to continue a highly successful collaboration between the Universities of Teesside, Hull and York. The universities will continue to work together to develop innovation assets and drive increased productivity in the bioeconomy across the Tees Valley, the Humber and Yorkshire.
14 July 2021
Would you like to learn more about the bioeconomy?
2 June 2021
Researchers from the universities of York and Teesside have been awarded a place at the Royal Society Summer Science 2021.
5 May 2021
Are you looking to innovate in your business, with a new bio-based process or product? If you are an eligible SME, the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) and the PAPI programme have funding to support you and help you de-risk your investment.
27 April 2021
A new brochure brings together a series of case studies to showcase what the project has achieved in its first three years. The universities of York, Hull and Teesside have found new and innovative ways to work together and to reach out to bio-based businesses and other regional stakeholders.
18 January 2021
Eligible businesses across Yorkshire are being urged to apply for a share of £600k to support their anaerobic digestion (AD) processes.
23 November 2020
The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) has provided two innovative European SMEs with access to its unique scale-up facilities and industrial biotechnology expertise through the KET4Clean Production project.
5 November 2020
Scientists at the University of York are developing a low cost, environmentally friendly method of processing sugar beet without the need for major industrial processing plants
25 September 2020
Biorenewables Development Centre is proud to be part of BioYorkshire, a ten year initiative to transform North Yorkshire into the UK hub for green innovation and enterprise. BioYorkshire aims to tackle some of the world’s major economic and environmental challenges, and contribute to the region’s ambition to become the nation’s first carbon negative region.
12 May 2020
The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) has partnered with Leeds-based consultants Green Gain and Resource Futures to help Yorkshire’s SMEs become more resilient and sustainable as part of the Resource Efficient Business (REBiz) programme.
15 April 2020
The Biorenewables Development Centre has been awarded additional funding of £0.5M to drive the growth of the emerging bioeconomy sector. The BDC will be supporting businesses that deliver innovative products, processes or services related to renewable, biological resources as part of the Bioeconomy Growth Programme.
16 March 2020
Employees from regional and national industries could study for PhDs under a new £1m pilot scheme to be introduced at the University of York in the area of circular, sustainable manufacturing
17 February 2020
A project using waste from pea processing to clean water is one of seven projects which have just received funding from the THYME project to boost the region’s bioeconomy. These projects join 13 THYME projects already funded in 2019, bringing the total research funded by the project to almost £1 million.
13 January 2020
As part of the THYME project, BioVale and the BDC invited BIO-HEX to a one-day entrepreneurial workshop after seeing their innovative biobased idea pitched at the University of York’s 2019 The Big Deal enterprise competition.
14 November 2019
Focus Games Ltd has developed the Bioeconomy Game, an educational board game that challenges players to create value from waste and develop their community.
19 June 2019
Biome Bioplastics Ltd (Biome) and the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) in partnership with the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (GCCE) at the University of York have strengthened their relationship by purchasing and installing a new specialist polymerisation reactor.
20 February 2019
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the University of York on 15th February to participate in the launch of BioYork, a new bioeconomy initiative.
17 December 2018
The University of York has been awarded £1.5m to support the growth of Yorkshire businesses that deliver innovative products, processes or services related to renewable, biological resources.
29 August 2018
The Biorenewables Development Centre is collaborating with six international partners on a biorefining project to reduce waste from sugar cane processing.
23 May 2018
Researchers have found that 300,000 tonnes of food manufacturing waste is discarded in Yorkshire and the Humber each year, much of which could be used to contribute to the sustainable manufacturing of a variety of products.
29 March 2018
The BDC is partnering on a £5million project to develop the bioeconomy across Yorkshire, the Humber region and the Tees Valley, led by the University of York.
19 October 2016
Five established R&D centres across the UK have today announced a new alliance, BioPilotsUK. This alliance will seek to position Britain as a global leader in biorefining technology development and bio-based product manufacture – two key elements of the bioeconomy.
12 September 2016
A delegation of top Government officials visited the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC), a University of York subsidiary, this week to investigate how waste can be converted into valuable products to benefit the UK economy.
16 March 2023, 1:00 - 3:00
We are part of the panel discussion that will look at what is Circular Economy Business and why it is relevant for your business.
29 March 2023 - 30 March 2023, 9:00 - 5:00
We are speaking and exhibiting alongside BioVale at the World Biogas Expo, the only global trade expo dedicated to the anaerobic digestion and biogas industry. Find us on stand A105 and A107.
10 May 2023 - 11 May 2023, 9:00 - 5:00
We will be attending the next ChemUK expo in May 2023 where we will be supporting the growth in green chemistry supply chains and the new processes and services that are supporting the transition to bio-sourced/bio-based industrial and consumer chemical products.
23 May 2023 - 25 May 2023, 9:00 - 5:00
Join our colleague Mark Gronnow at BioKet 2023 in Trois-Rivieres, Canada on 23rd May. He will be speaking in the 14:30 - 16:00 session ‘KETs to Valorise the feedstocks of the future’ about the ‘Utilisation of Biorefinery Residues for Hydrogen Production’.
14 June 2023, 1:00 - 5:00
Industry presentations and round table discussions to address, develop, and implement actions to move the sector forward
18 July 2023, 10:00 - 4:30
Learn, discuss and network with an exciting range of stakeholders including funders, industry representatives and relevant academics. Organised by York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI).
13 September 2023, 2:00 - 4:30
Discover more about BioYorkshire and how to engage, hear updates from companies working in the bioeconomy, and network with colleagues.
24 October 2023, 10:00 - 11:30
Following the successful completion of the Anaerobic Digestion & Circular Economy Yorkshire project, this webinar will showcase three projects that were funded as part of the programme.
30 January 2024, 9:30 - 5:00
If you’re a York based business looking to reduce and re-use your waste, cut costs, and support York on its journey to net zero by 2030, come along to the latest instalment of the Green Business Forum.
13 March 2024 - 14 March 2024, 9:00 - 4:00
Join Biorenewables Development Centre at IBioIC's 10th Anniversary Conference
9 April 2024, 8:30 - 12:00
Join us for an informative workshop on growing and producing biofibres, exploring the potential of low-carbon crops like hemp and flax. These crops supply fibres for construction, textiles, bioenergy, and more, contributing to Yorkshire's transition to net zero while enhancing biodiversity and soil health.
25 April 2024, 10:00 - 12:00
Join H2Boost to hear how we are demonstrating a commercially viable and sustainable process for producing biohydrogen which is timely and crucial for addressing environmental challenges, particularly in the transportation sector.
30 April 2024, 9:30 - 12:00
Hear our very own Mark Corbett speak at Pioneer Presents: Planetary Health – Green Carbon for the UK Chemicals Sector.
15 May 2024 - 16 May 2024, 9:00 - 5:00
We are pleased to announce that we will be attending the next ChemUK expo in May 2024, where we will be supporting the growth in green chemistry supply chains and the new processes and services that are supporting the transition to bio-sourced/bio-based industrial and consumer chemical products.
9 June 2024, 2:30 - 3:30
Poo can be a real problem, but also an opportunity for those dealing with it. With the average human producing 145kg of poo a year and a dairy cow producing 62kg of the stuff per day, there’s plenty of it to do something with!
This event aims to shed light on the issues surrounding waste management while highlighting the exciting possibilities it holds, particularly in addressing climate change.
18 June 2024, 9:30 - 1:30
Yorkshire is home to nearly 40% of the UK’s grown fibres, mostly industrial hemp and flax. A dynamic lineup of speakers from across the biofibre supply chain will explore how we can harness the supply chain opportunities from these natural fibres to decarbonise and create high value jobs within our construction, textiles and biocomposite sectors.
25 September 2024, 10:00 - 3:00
Join BDC Director Mark Corbett as he talks about the environmental and economic potential of circular bio-based construction materials.
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We have several ways to work with us, including business advisory programmes and self-funded commercial options. We even have the option for you to hire our state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and office space.
