BiofuelAi wins £1m Manchester Prize

Emerging from Supergen Bioenergy Hub research and co-founded by our co-director Michael Short, the University of Surrey spinout company BiofuelAi has won the £1m Manchester Prize.

The UK’s flagship award for artificial intelligence innovation recognises BiofuelAi’s technology, which enables biogas plants to make smarter operational decisions, increasing renewable energy production while reducing costs and carbon emissions.

Michael comments: “Green gas generation is more complex than traditional industrial processes, yet they often operate with far less predictive capability. The opportunity was to apply a whole-systems approach and give operators the same quality of decision support that has existed in other process industries for years.”

BiofuelAi is also co-founded by Alan Beesley from Alps Ecoscience who chairs our advisory board. Alan and Michael first met via the forum of the Supergen Bioenergy Hub and were able to explore how academia and industry can work together to solve some of our greatest innovation challenges.

Alan says: “The biogas industry remains one of the least data-driven sectors in energy. Facilities capable of generating heat and power for thousands of homes are still largely managed through spreadsheets and operator experience. We believed operators deserved better tools. Winning the Manchester Prize validates the work of an exceptional team and recognises the potential of AI to strengthen energy security, improve operational efficiency and accelerate decarbonisation. We would like to thank the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and Challengeworks for enabling this”

Read more about the prize and the exciting work BiofuelAi is doing on their website.