Title: Turning Waste into Wealth: Pioneering the Bioeconomy for a Sustainable Future
Presenter: Dr. Bishnu Acharya, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan
Date & Time: May 30, 2025, 1:00 – 2:00 PM (Atlantic Time)
Registration: https://t.ly/S3YC7 (The webinar is free but registration is needed to receive the Zoom link).
Abstract: In a world facing the dual crises of climate change and resource depletion, there lies a critical but often overlooked opportunity: transforming waste into value. His talk addresses the boundaries between mitigation and adaptation, focusing on the bioeconomy, a sustainable economic model that utilizes biological resources for energy, materials, and other needs. Consider food waste: when we discard uneaten food, it typically ends up in landfills, emitting methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. In Canada, with vast landfills, this is a manageable issue, but globally, where space is limited, it presents a more urgent challenge. My work centers on converting this food waste into bioenergy, which can replace fossil fuels and natural gas, and producing biomaterials for uses ranging from drug delivery systems to bioplastics and food supplements. This transformation not only mitigates greenhouse gas emissions but also fosters a circular economy.
CLISA is the first multi-institutional training program in Canada towards climate smart agriculture to help address the need for HQPs who possess appropriate knowledge and expertise in climate change, precision agriculture, water and soil management, sustainable food production and food value chains, and climate-smart financing and policies to promote the development and application of innovative technologies and strategies in Canadian farming practices.
