Biobased economy
Biobased economy, bioeconomy or biotechonomy refers to all economic activity derived from scientific and research activity focused on understanding mechanisms and processes at the genetic and molecular levels and its application to industrial process.
The term is widely used by regional development agencies, international organizations, biotechnology companies. It is closely linked to the evolution of the biotechnology industry. The ability to study, understand and manipulate genetic material has been possible due to scientific breakthroughs and technological progress.
The evolution of the biotechnology industry and its application to agriculture, health, chemical or energy industries is a classic example of bioeconomic activity.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
The term was first defined by Juan Enriquez and Rodrigo Martinez[1] at the Genomics Seminar in the 1997 AAAS meeting. An excerpt of this paper was published in Science Magazine."[2]
Enriquez and Martinez' 2002 Harvard Business School working paper, "Biotechonomy 1.0: A Rough Map of Biodata Flow", showed the global flow of genetic material into and out of the three largest public genetic databases: GenBank, EMBL and DDBJ. The authors then hypothesized about the economic impact that such data flows might have on patent creation, evolution of biotech startups and licensing fees.[3] An adaptation of this paper was published in Wired magazine in 2003.[4]
Since about 2005, the creation of a biobased economy has been a significant issue in the Netherlands.[5] As of late, pilot plants have been started i.e. in Lelystad (Zeafuels), and a centralised organisation (Interdepartementaal programma biobased economy) and supporting research (Food & Biobased Research) is being conducted.[6]
[edit] In practice
The biobased economy uses first-generation biomass (crops), second-generation biomass (crop refuge), and third-generation biomass (seaweed, algae). Several methods of processing are then used to gather the most out of the biomass. This includes techniques such as
Anaerobic digestion is generally used to produce ethanol, pyrolysis is used to produce pyrolysis-oil (which is solidified biogas), and torrefaction is used to create "biomass-coal". Biomass-coal and biogas is then burnt for energy production, ethanol can be used as a (vehicle)-fuel, as well as for other purposes (use in skin-care products, ...)[7]
[edit] Getting the most out of the biomass
For economic reasons, the processing of the biomass is done according to a specific pattern. This pattern, as well as the quantities, ... depend on the types of biomass used. The whole of finding the most suitable pattern is known as biorefining. A general list shows the products with high added value and lowest volume of biomass to the products with the lowest added value and highest volume of biomass[8]:
- fine chemicals/medicins
- food
- chemicals/bioplastics
- transportfuels
- electricity and heat
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "From ATCG to bioeconomy 2.0"
- ^ Enriquez-Cabot, Juan. "Genomics and the World's Economy." Science Magazine 281 (14 August 1998): 925-926.
- ^ Juan Enriquez, Rodrigo Martinez. “Biotechonomy 1.0: A Rough Map of Biodata Flow,” Harvard Business School working paper # 03-028, August 2002.
- ^ Rodrigo Martinez, Juan Enriquez, Jonathan West. “DNA Space. The Geography of the Genome,” Wired, June, 2003. p. 160.
- ^ Biobased economy.nl
- ^ Schematic showing the biomass and processes used in Zeafuels
- ^ ACCRES
- ^ Kijk magazine, number 8, 2011
[edit] Further reading
- Biogrondstoffen: Van fossiel naar biomassa by Stichting Bio-Wetenschappen en Maatschappij (2010)
- The biobased book. Energy transition by P.Hamm
- The Earth System by Lee R. Kump
