Biobased economy, bioeconomy or biotechonomy refers to all economic activity derived from scientific and research activity focused on biotechnology. In other words, 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 term was first defined by Juan Enríquez and Rodrigo Martinez, Life Sciences Chief Strategist at IDEO at the Genomics Seminar in the 1997 AAAS meeting. An excerpt of this paper was published in Science."
Enríquez 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. An adaptation of this paper was published in Wired magazine in 2003.
Since about 2005, the creation of a biobased economy has been a significant issue in the Netherlands. 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.
In Belgium, the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant has been set up.
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, ...)
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, depends 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:
- fine chemicals/medicines
- transport fuels
- electricity and heat
Some research is being conducted as well in order to improve the manufacturing processes. For example, to make plastics, paint, medicines, antifreeze out of syngas, a new catalyst has been invented by Krijn de Jong.
Comparison of fossil fuel and biobased economy
- With a fossil fuel economy substances as gasoline, fuel oil, diesel, naphta, kerosine, LPG, and other are converted to: energy, chemical products, food, materials
- With a biobased economy substances as (syn)gas, sugars, oil, fibres and other are converted to energy, chemical products, (animal) food, biomaterials
International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR): http://www.icabr.org/
- Smyth, S. J., Aerni, P., Castle, D., Demont, M., Falck-Zepeda, J. B., Paarlberg, R., Phillips, P. W. B., Pray, C. E., Savastano, S., Wesseler, J., Zilberman, D. (2011). Sustainability and the bioeconomy: Policy recommendations from the 15th ICABR conference. AgBioForum, 14(3), 180-186
- Wesseler, J., D. S. Spielman, M. Demont (eds.) (2011): The Future of Governance in the Global Bioeconomy: Policy, Regulation, and Investment Challenges for the Biotechnology and Bioenergy Sectors. AgBioForum, 13(4), 288-290
- White House Promotes a Bioeconomy April 26, 2012
- Enríquez-Cabot, Juan. "Genomics and the World's Economy." Science 281 (14 August 1998): 925-926.
- Juan Enríquez, Rodrigo Martinez. "Biotechonomy 1.0: A Rough Map of Biodata Flow", Harvard Business School working paper # 03-028, August 2002.
- Rodrigo Martinez, Juan Enríquez, 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
- EOS magazine, 6, 2012
- Kijk magazine, number 8, 2011
- New catalyst for making plastics, paint, medicines, antifreeze out of syngas
- 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
- The Biobased Economy, by Langeveld et al. (eds.). Earthscan (http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781844077700/)