As a society we can address the global challenges of renewable and affordable energy, sustainable waste management and future food security through harnessing the power of biotechnology and biosciences.
The UK bioeconomy is currently worth £2.2Bn GVA, contributing more than 5 million UK jobs (UK Bioeconomy strategy, 2014). Our aim is to support the growing bioeconomy both in the UK and internationally through:
- Identifying, mobilising and valorising renewable and sustainable biological resources for energy and materials.
- Designing, developing and optimising biotechnologies that are environmentally sustainable and commercially viable.
- Fostering and nurturing newly emerging bio-based industries through tailored support.
- Maximising the synergy between waste, energy and agricultural sectors by identifying opportunities and integrating supply chains.
The bioresource and bioeconomy research group was founded in 2010 by Professor Lynsey Melville. To date it has attracted over £2.2M of external research income (with a combined project value of more than £20.2M). This transdisciplinary group has a strong commercial focus working alongside some of world’s largest engineering and utility companies as well as supporting SME’s. We also work with partners and stakeholders on projects in the UK, Europe, Africa, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Areas of activity
- Bioenergy from biomass – Characterisation, pre-treatment/ pre-processing, technology design, evaluation and optimisation, Anaerobic Digestion.
- Bio-resource mapping and mobilisation –Understanding the nature and availability of resources (GIS based mapping)
- Bioremediation of water and wastewater– Design, evaluation and optimisation of technologies and processes. • Biomass cultivation/processing (e.g. algae) for energy and high value products and materials.
- Techno-Economic Assessment/ Life Cycle Assessment of technologies and processes.
- Socio-technical systems analysis – working with stakeholders and beneficiaries to explore questions of perception & behaviour change.
- Design and development of decision support systems to encourage supply chain integration and promote wider adoption.
Staff working in this group
Our transdisciplinary team is uniquely positioned to respond to the challenges of growing the global bioeconomy and has a wide range of expertise and experience across various disciplines including; environmental engineering, knowledge engineering and socio-technical science.
- Professor Lynsey Melville
- Dr Roshni Paul
- Dr Khondokar Mizanur Rahman
- Dr Venkatesh Vijay
- Dr Guolong Zhong
- Dr Beck Collins
- Laura Leyland
- Roger Wall
