Reports

Report of the Council on an Algal Innovation Centre

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. There is increasing interest in the exploitation of microalgae as a sustainable feedstock for a variety of products to replace those currently sourced from fossil oil and gas. The University has researchers from many disciplines who work on algae, in departments including Architecture, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Chemistry, Engineering, and Plant Sciences. The Algal Innovation Centre will address the requirement for scale-up and pilot facilities to enable translation of fundamental research and showcase technologies. It will connect the entire pipeline of algal research from strain selection and improvement, through harvesting and processing, to development of underpinning technology/engineering solutions, and will conform to the standards required for growth of genetically modified algae. The Centre will also meet a wider UK need; as a result of a national consultation, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has identified a need for an algal Centre of Excellence with test and scale-up facilities.

2. A plot has been identified within the Botanic Garden, adjacent to the existing Plant Growth Facility, for a dedicated glass house for algal innovation and plant experiments. The proposed facility will be built in a freestanding aluminium cladding system on a concrete foundation and will have a gross floor area of 164m². Site preparation, including ground clearance and the removal of hedges and two small oak trees, will be required.

3. The estimated cost of the project is £492,834, and is to be funded by the Department of Plant Sciences and the School of the Biological Sciences. The funds available to the Department include an award of £188,600 from the European Union’s EnAlgae project, which aims to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in North West Europe by developing algal biofuel technologies. No significant incremental running costs are anticipated for the new facilities.

4. The annexed plan shows the location of the proposed plot in the Botanic Garden. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade.

5. The Council recommends:

I. That approval be given for the construction of an Algal Innovation Centre.

II. That the Director of Estates Strategy be authorized to apply for Full Planning Permission in due course.

III. That the Head of Estate Development be authorized to accept a tender, within the available funding, for the proposed works in due course.

27 February 2015	L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor	Helen Hoogewerf-McComb	Shirley Pearce
	Ross Anderson	Richard Jones	John Shakeshaft
	Richard Anthony	Fiona Karet	Susan Smith
	Jeremy Caddick	Stuart Laing	Evianne Van Gijn
	R. Charles	Mark Lewisohn	Sara Weller
	Anne Davis	Rebecca Lingwood	I. H. White
	David Good	Susan Oosthuizen	A. D. Yates
	Nicholas Holmes	Rachael Padman

A location plan of the proposed new Algal Innovation Centre in the Botanic Garden