Creating a bio-economy

Deakin University’s Institute for Technology Research Innovation has won a small but significant grant from the Enterprise Connect Innovative Regions Centre of the Australian Government.

This is part of a broader thrust by Deakin to position the South West Region of Victoria (SWV) and Australia generally for the changing nature of industry. The challenges of climate change and dwindling fossil fuels are forcing a re-think on effective utilisation of renewable resources.

The grant will be used to investigate a key component for understanding and implementing a bio-economy strategy in Australia. Deakin University and CSIRO will work with industry in the SWV region to understand the dynamics of the supply chain for co-products from renewable resources. These may form alternatives to petrochemical co-products from oil refineries.

The $75,000 grant is part of the Innovations Regions Centre round of small grants in 2009.

“This is a highly significant award not just for Deakin University, but for the region in general,” said Professor Andrew Parratt, Executive Director of ITRI.

“There is a fundamental shift underway in the region away from some of the traditional industries that have served the area for a long time, but are now falling away, towards a new bio-driven economy.

“This grant will help us look at ways of doing that.

“In addition, through Enterprise Connect, which has an office in the Geelong Technology Precinct, what we learn will be networked to other regional centres around Australia.

“So what we learn here at ITRI through this grant will provide positive opportunities for other parts of the country”.

For more information about ITRI:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/itri/

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