Bioenergy brings jobs and wealth to the West Midlands

A report published yesterday by the European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University demonstrates that the organisation has already had a £6 million impact on the West Midlands economy with more than 50 jobs created in the bioenergy sector in the last 3 years. EBRI is a world leading centre for bioenergy research and technology development and in 2011 was awarded more than £8 million of match funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in order to support the development of a regional bioenergy supply chain and promote the adoption of innovative new bioenergy technologies across the region. Over the last 3 years, EBRI has worked with more than 100 West Midlands companies from many sectors including manufacturing, engineering and consultancy and this has had a direct impact on the development of existing and new businesses in the bioenergy sector.  The report, carried out by independent consultants, demonstrates that through its business support, EBRI has already increased GVA (Gross Value Added) in the bioenergy sector by more than £6 million across the West Midlands.  More than 50 jobs have been created in the region alongside three new companies – and those businesses who have worked with EBRI have collectively increased their expenditure on Research and Development by more than £400,000. Read the full news article.