§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Energy what support his Department is giving to research into biotechnology; and what steps are being taken to ensure that British companies utilise this research for its major industrial potential in the future.
§ Mr. Eadie:The Department supports work on the derivation of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels from biological material from waste and crop sources. The commitment is £0 é6 million and is part of the Government's £6 million 4 year R & D programme on solar energy announced in February 1977. At this stage, work consists mainly of detailed assessment studies supported by some experimental work, to determine whether significant quantities of fuel might be economically produced using United Kingdom sources of feed material. It is too early to give detailed consideration to application of the technology.