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

Betabeet项目旨在开发成本更低、碳排放更低、环境足迹更好的新型分布式甜菜加工技术。它将通过冷压甜菜来实现这一目标，该技术采用了马铃薯等根茎类蔬菜加工技术，同时对果肉进行发酵，以生产广泛使用的防腐剂和清洁产品柠檬酸。该过程的副产品将用于其他用途，如动物饲料。我们将特别注意减少甜菜种植过程中水土流失的影响。英格兰北部甜菜加工业的发展将为受新冠疫情影响严重的地区带来良好的就业机会。该项目将通过为英格兰北部的食品、饮料和个人护理制造商开发当地的柠檬酸和糖来源，帮助英国企业从COVID - 19大流行中恢复过来。重要的是，该项目将为一系列大宗和高价值生物基化学品的生产建立技术和供应原则，以应对政治和环境变化带来的供应挑战。更多的分布式加工原则为英国提供了更大的灵活性，为英国农业增加价值，而不需要昂贵的集中投资和高昂的运输成本。甜菜还将为英国的净零排放和其他环境承诺做出贡献：冷压将甜菜加工过程中的碳排放量减少了约三分之二。运营规模将大大降低运输成本和排放。种植甜菜将为英格兰北部的农民提供一种新的高产作物，减少农业投入，改善土壤质量，增强生物多样性。

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.