BetaBeet: distributed processing and citric acid production from locally farmed Sugar Beet

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The Betabeet project aims to develop new distributed sugar beet processing technology with lower costs, lower carbon emissions and a better environmental footprint. It will achieve this through cold-pressing of sugar beet using technology developed for root vegetable processing, such as for potatoes, together with fermentation of the pulp for manufacture of the widely used preservative and cleaning product, citric acid. By-products from the process will be used for other uses, such as animal feed. We will take particular care to reduce the impact of soil erosion during sugar beet cultivation. The development of a beet processing industry in the North of England will deliver good jobs in areas hard hit by COVID. The project will help businesses in the UK recover from the COVID 19 pandemic through development of local sources of both citric acid and sugar for the North of England's food, drink and personal care manufacturers. Importantly, the project will build the technology and supply principles for the manufacture of a range of bulk and high value bio-based chemicals needed of address supply challenges emerging from both political and environmental changes. The principal of more distributed processing offers greater flexibility in the UK to add value to UK farming without the need for expensive centralised investment and high transport costs. Betabeet will also contribute to the UK's net zero and other environmental commitments: cold pressing reduces the carbon emissions for sugar beet processing by around two thirds. The scale of operations will reduce the transport costs and emissions significantly. Cultivation of sugar beet will offer a new break crop for farmers in the North of England, reducing agricultural inputs, improving soil quality and enhancing biodiversity.