The bioeconomy

A bioeconomy can be defined as “an economy where the basic building blocks for materials, chemicals and energy are derived from renewable biological resources” (Kautto & McCormick, 2013).

In a more tangible definition, the European Commission defines bioeconomy as the “production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy” (European Commission, 2012).

Other sources offer a deeper insight on the scope of the term, indicating that there are three distinct but overlapping visions on bioeconomy:

“The bio-technology vision emphasizes the importance of bio-technology research and the application and commercialization of biotechnology in different sectors of the economy. The bioresource vision focuses on processing and upgrading of biological raw materials, as well as on the establishment of new value chains. Finally, the bio-ecology vision highlights sustainability and ecological processes that optimize the use of energy and nutrients, promote biodiversity, and avoid monocultures and soil degradation.” (Bugg et al., 2016) Given the systemic implications of these definitions, it is safe to assume that it encompasses the activity of a wide range of industries, both established and emerging, that deal with the production, processing, distribution, and waste management of organic matter.

Firstly, the bioeconomy comprehends the growth of organisms for human applications, namely crops, livestock farming, aquaculture, silviculture, and potentially fungiculture, bacterial farming, and algaculture.

In this field, algae have been found to be of incalculable value. From its cultivation for human consumption, to its use as agricultural fertilizers (Raghunandan et al., 2019) and its symbiotic use in seafood production by aquaponics (Goddek et al., 2019), algae allow for more controlled nutrient cycles in the primary sector.

Some notable emerging uses of seaweed in this regard are the trials in supplementation of Asparagopsis spp. in livestock feed as a way to reduce methane emissions from the animals’ digestive system by over 80% (Roque et al., 2021), as well as the integration of seaweed biofilters in river deltas to prevent nutrient runoff from agricultural exploitations into marine habitats.

Secondly, the industries devoted to processing said raw materials into higher value products comprise the food and feed, agrichemical, bioenergy, biochemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic, manufacturing, and construction industries. Intimately related to these commercial products, the way in which they are made accessible to the customers (retail and packaging industries) are essential to support a transformation towards sustainable practices, by integrating new systems and product cycles that minimize waste while adapting to the specifications of these new bio-based products.

Lastly, the way industrial byproducts, household waste, biological residues and end-of-lifecycle waste are managed in relation to ecosystems involves the industries of wastewater treatment, landfill management, waste valorization, recycling, and environmental remediation.

Thanks to their ability to incorporate micronutrients, diatoms, a type of microalgae can be used for remedying heavy-metal contamination in water ecosystems (Marella et al., 2020).

Crucially, the way these material and energy outputs can be circled back into our structures of consumption creates a field of opportunity for bioeconomies to exploit low value waste and transform it into high value compounds using the metabolic capabilities of living organisms, that can be engineered for that specific scenario using techniques explored by synthetic biology.

Good example of this are HRAPs (High-Rate Algal Ponds), an emerging technology that uses green microalgae to remove pollutants from wastewater using cellular nutrient exchange triggered by photosynthesis, hence reducing the need for external non-renewable energy sources. The low value exceeding algal biomass is then collected and converted (most commonly by anaerobic digestion) into higher value biofuel, generating a circular waste-to-energy revaluation (Craggs et al., 2010).

In sum, the bioeconomy builds upon green (agricultural), blue (marine and freshwater), white (industrial use of enzymes and microorganisms), red (health and pharmaceutical), and grey (waste management) biotechnology (Kautto & McCormick, 2013) to improve quality of life for humans while ensuring a sustainable management of the resources and ecosystems.

Figure 10. Mycellium Chair (2018) by Eric Klarenbeek, 3D printed using a bio-based compound with living fungi spores.