From a County Meath Farm to Pharma – The Circular Bioeconomy in Action

A renewable energy project in Duleek is demonstrating how collaboration between agriculture, industry and innovative enterprise can deliver benefits extending well beyond renewable energy production.

International delegates attending the recent Global Bioeconomy Summit in Dublin travelled to Duleek, County Meath, to visit the Carbon AMS anaerobic digestion and biomethane facility on the farm of Donal Hartford.

The project brings together Carbon AMS, local farmers Donal Hartford and Brugha Duffy, and Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, in an innovative collaboration connecting agriculture with pharmaceutical manufacturing.

At its heart, the project demonstrates how producing biomethane can also generate wider economic, environmental and social value. Beyond supplying a renewable alternative to fossil gas, the collaboration has the potential to create new opportunities for local farmers, support rural enterprise and employment, and recover valuable nutrients through digestates and other co-products that can be returned to productive use.

The visit was organised by Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI) as part of its involvement in BIOMAPE, an EU Horizon Europe project examining the social acceptance of biomethane. #

Pictured at Carbon AMS, Duleek – see below:

Richard Kennedy, CEO  of Carbon AMS

L:R: Fergal Finn, NSAI, Rian Kennedy, Carbon AMS and Patrick Barrett, Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine.

Delegates to the Global Bioeconomy Summit  who visited  the Carbon AMS AD facility – pictured here on the farm of Donal Hartford in County Meath on 22 October 2026.

Bryan Mulchinock Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease

L:R Sean Campbell,SGS and Chairman RGFI, Bryan Mulchinock, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease;  Geraldine Kearney, RGFI, Nick Bennett, CEO RGFI,  Donal Hartford, farmer and Rachel Lopez, Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease