The committee is exploring the feasibility of creating a waste and bioeconomy using by-products from agriculture, industry and households. Waste and bioeconomy experts will be asked about the different kinds of waste being used as feedstocks, what the environmental impact of this might be and how they can be transformed into valuable sources of energy.
The committee has already consulted a number of experts as part of its inquiry, including Dr Jeremy Tomkinson, CEO of the National Non-Food Crops Centre and Dr Ben Allen and Dr Bettina Kretschmer of the Institute for European Environmental Policy. Other experts consulted have included Professor Greg Tucker, a Professor of Plant Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, Dr Graham Hillier of the Centre for Process Innovation and Dr Will Barton, Head of Manufacturing at the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
The committee are particularly interested in whether there is any research underway to enable a wider range of feedstocks to be used; what a major breakthrough might represent; how strong the UK research base is in this area; whether it is possible to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of using waste as a feedstock; and how close to commercialisation this technology is.
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