Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans her Department has to fund research into micro-algae biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuel.

The majority of BEIS funding for research is allocated through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI currently funds a large portfolio of research projects looking at bioenergy and other alternative energy sources.

Algae have considerable potential as an industrial biotechnology platform serving a wide range of bio-based products. Developed in the right conditions, this could offer a low carbon alternative to existing technologies as well as a sustainable alternative to traditional crop cultivation. Algae-UK, one of six funded Networks in BBSRC’s Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy portfolio, is focussing on realising the potential of algal systems.

More widely, the Department has also supported a Science and Innovation Audit for the marine economy in the Highland and Islands region of Scotland, home of 61% of the UK’s coastline. The report, published earlier this year, highlighted the potential value of marine biotechnology to the region, which could be worth £600m by 2030.