Food Waste to Energy

My hon. Friend will have to study the details of the energy White Paper very closely. Not being an expert on the technology that she talked about, I am afraid that I cannot pre-empt what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will say tomorrow. However, it is certainly the Government’s desire to encourage all sorts of innovative technologies that have an environmental benefit. The technology that my hon. Friend mentioned has particular benefits in terms of dealing with a mixture of materials, including food waste and packaging waste, because they can all be dealt with together. That is slightly separate from composting and anaerobic digestion, which involve separating food waste from other waste. The company that she mentioned therefore has some niche potential, and my officials advise me that that it is perfectly possible that it will benefit from the announcements that will be made later this week. However, without knowing some of the figures for biomass content and so forth, it is difficult to make a judgment today. If my hon. Friend is not happy with what I have said, she should remember that we are talking about a White Paper, and that things are never set in stone. I am sure that she looks forward to debating the issues that the White Paper will spark between its publication and the next election. Question put and agreed to.