Bioeconomy For Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is the most important challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The global economic growth in the recent past has indeed exhibited marked progress in many countries. Nevertheless, the issues of income disparity, poverty, gender gaps, and malnutrition are not uncommon in the global landscape, in spite of the upward growth of the economy and technological advances. This grim picture is further exacerbated by our growing human population, unmindful resource use, ever-increasing consumption trends, and changing climate. In order to protect humanity and preserve the planet, the United Nations issued the “2030 agenda for sustainable development,” which includes but is not limited to sustainable production and consumption practices, e.g. in a sustainable bioeconomy. The hallmark of the sustainable bioeconomy is a paradigm shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a biological-based one, which is driven by the virtues of sustainability, efficient utilization of resources, and “circular economy.” As the sustainable bioeconomy is based on the efficient utilization of biological resources and societal transformations, it holds the immense potential to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This book shares valuable insights into the linkages between the sustainable bioeconomy and Sustainable Development Goals, making it an essential read for policymakers, researchers and students of environmental studies.

It is a first of its kind volume to address the recent issues emerging in agro-based economies. It will be the single point source for recent advancements in agro-based global bioeconomy. It empowers the utilization of biotechnology to address worldwide ecological issues by supporting sustainable resolutions for global agricultural markets. It gives both foundation hypothesis and functional direction on commercialization and regulatory issues. Empowers usage of adaptable approaches that can adjust to and uphold socially and financially valuable agro-based technologies.

This book examines the bioeconomy concept, analysing the opportunities it can generate, the constraints and the potential benefits for society. The main objective of bioeconomy is to promote economic development, by creating jobs and enhancing the sustainable utilization of bio-resources. A primary driver of bioeconomy strategy, therefore, is the need to respond to the growing population's food and economic requirements. While today research and literature related to bioeconomy are limited, this book presents a unique collection of perspectives on the complex dimensions of the bioeconomy debate. Drawing on the experiences from Europe, Asia and Africa, it presents an international overview. The chapters address a wide range of issues, including coastal-land interactions, ecosystem services, food production, rural development, agriculture, forest management and bioenergy. As a whole, the volume outlines what role bioeconomy can play in contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without compromising on the ecological sustainability and equitable distribution of benefits. The book concludes by providing recommendations for developing bioeconomy in respective sectors (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, renewable energy) and directions for planning future bioeconomy programmes and strategies. The Bioeconomy Approach will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecological economics, development economics and environmental economics, as well as policy-makers and practitioners involved in sustainable development.

This book gathers contributions from scientists and industry representatives on achieving a sustainable bioeconomy. It also covers the social sciences, economics, business, education and the environmental sciences. There is an urgent need to optimise and maximise the use of biological resources, so that primary production and processing systems can generate more food, fibre and other bio-based products with less environmental impacts and lower greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, we need a “sustainable bioeconomy” – a term that encompasses the sustainable production of renewable resources from land, fisheries and aquaculture environments and their conversion into food, feed, fibre bio-based products and bio-energy, as well as related public goods. Despite the relevance of achieving a sustainable bioeconomy, there are very few publications in this field. Addressing that gap, this book illustrates how biological resources and ecosystems could be used in a more sustainable, efficient and integrated manner – in other words, how the principles of sustainable bioeconomy can be implemented in practice. Given its interdisciplinary nature, the field of sustainable bioeconomy offers a unique opportunity to address complex and interconnected challenges, while also promoting economic growth. It helps countries and societies to make a transition and to use resources more efficiently, and shows how to rely less on biological resources to satisfy industry demands and consumer needs. The papers are innovative, cross-cutting and include many practice-based lessons learned, some of which are reproducible elsewhere. In closing, the book, prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC), reiterates the need to promote a sustainable bioeconomy today.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book defines the new field of "Bioeconomy" as the sustainable and innovative use of biomass and biological knowledge to provide food, feed, industrial products, bioenergy and ecological services. The chapters highlight the importance of bioeconomy-related concepts in public, scientific, and political discourse. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the authors outline the dimensions of the bioeconomy as a means of achieving sustainability. The authors are ideally situated to elaborate on the diverse aspects of the bioeconomy. They have acquired in-depth experience of interdisciplinary research through the university’s focus on “Bioeconomy”, its contribution to the Bioeconomy Research Program of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, and its participation in the German Bioeconomy Council. With the number of bioeconomy-related projects at European universities rising, this book will provide graduate students and researchers with background information on the bioeconomy. It will familiarize scientific readers with bioeconomy-related terms and give scientific background for economists, agronomists and natural scientists alike.

The current era of incredible innovations has made science and technology one of the most powerful tools to meet the goals of incremental prosperity for humans and sustainable development. The development of the biotech industry in any given country is shaped by the characteristics of the technology—particularly its close relation to scientific knowledge—and by country-specific factors—the level and nature of the scientific knowledge base, the institutional set-up, and the role assumed by the government—which influence the country's ability to exploit new opportunities and appropriate the respective results. This book presents an integrated approach for sustained innovation in various areas of biotechnology. Focusing mainly on the industrial, socio-economic and legal implications of biotechnological advances, it examines in detail not only the implications of IPR in omics-based research but also the ethical and intellectual standards and how these can be developed for sustained innovation. Integrating science and business, it offers a peek behind the scenes of the biotech industry and provides a comprehensive analysis of the foundations of the present day industry for students and professionals alike. The book is divided into three parts: Food and Agricultural BiotechnologyIndustrial BiotechnologyPharmaceutical Biotechnology

The current era of incredible innovations has made science and technology one of the most powerful tools to meet the goals of incremental prosperity for humans and sustainable development. The development of the biotech industry in any given country is shaped by the characteristics of the technology-particularly its close relation to scientific knowledge-and by country-specific factors-the level and nature of the scientific knowledge base, the institutional set-up, and the role assumed by the government-which influence the country's ability to exploit new opportunities and appropriate the respective results. This book presents an integrated approach for sustained innovation in various areas of biotechnology. Focusing mainly on the industrial, socio-economic and legal implications of biotechnological advances, it examines in detail not only the implications of IPR in omics-based research but also the ethical and intellectual standards and how these can be developed for sustained innovation. Integrating science and business, it offers a peek behind the scenes of the biotech industry and provides a comprehensive analysis of the foundations of the present day industry for students and professionals alike. The book is divided into three parts: Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Industrial Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

This publication investigates key aspects surrounding the sustainability of bioeconomy development: the use of biomass as feedstock for future production; the design and building of biorefineries for the manufacture of a range of fuels, chemicals and materials, and also for electricity generation.