Bioeconomy: From Technological Revolution to Societal Transformation
In its essence, bioeconomy represents an economic system which is based on the sustainable usage of renewable biological resources (e.g., plants, microorganisms, etc.) for the purposes of producing food, materials, and energy. It addresses multiple contemporary societal challenges such as the ones related to environmental sustainability, sustainable food production, and economic resilience, and covers various sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and biotechnology. Nonetheless, if we begin to elaborate on the basic definitions and go into different ways in which bioeconomy can and should be implemented, we will notice different views of the concept itself. From the technology-oriented perspective to the view of bioeconomy through the ecological and sociological lenses. Let’s start chronologically.
As a term, it was first used in the 1970s by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, a Romanian mathematician and economist to describe an economic system grounded in the material laws of nature and which takes into account the limited amount of available raw materials. The theoretical foundations for this approach combined economics with physics and biology, with an accent on the second law of thermodynamics. One of the central arguments was that economic activities essentially lead to environmental degradation. This increases the entropy of used resources and, at the same time, decreases the presence of low-entropy resources in the environment. Building on this premise, and the fact that entropy always increases or remains constant in an isolated system, it was concluded that linear models of extracting resources such as fossil fuels and burning them for energy are simply not sustainable. In other words, today’s economic systems are extracting resources and producing waste, thus increasing entropy in both natural and human systems.
During the following decades, the concept of bioeconomy evolved primarily in the fields that study various aspects of sustainability but also started getting traction in policy development on the level of the European Union in the early 2000s. Over time, the original ideas were given different spins and by 2010, bioeconomy was increasingly presented in an extremely techno-optimistic and revolutionary manner, as a technological solution with the potential to back current levels of consumption and enable future economic growth due to innovations in the field of biotechnology.
TECHNOLOGICALLY, BIOECONOMY DOES REPRESENT THE OPTIMAL UTILIZATION OF RENEWABLE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES AND RENEWABLE RAW MATERIALS FROM AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY OR OTHER SOURCES (INSECTS, FUNGI, ETC.), AS WELL AS THE BIOGENIC WASTE AND RESIDUES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD AND FEED, MATERIALS, CHEMICALS, AND ENERGY.
In other words, the aim is to develop technologies and solutions that enhance resource efficiency, promote sustainable production, and create value-added products from biomass.
Nonetheless, despite the definitions above being correct, the world was not disrupted by the announced “biotech revolution” and did not witness the utilization of bioeconomy as the “new engine of growth”. Focusing primarily on the technological aspects of bioeconomy as sufficient solutions, such as biotechnology, biofuels, and innovations in complementary areas turned out to be at best an exaggeration, insufficient for solving the burning ecological challenges, and at worst idealistic justifications for greenwashing activities and keeping the status quo regarding usual resource exploitation practices supplemented by exploiting biomass. Even if something is technologically feasible, it is often the case that technological change comes faster than societal one and that it cannot easily compensate for the societal dynamics that drive unwanted consequences.
Today, our societal dynamics, on a global scale, process more resources than the planetary systems can reproduce. Six out of nine planetary boundaries have been breached and the seventh one (ocean acidification) is hanging on by a thread. Global greenhouse gas emissions keep getting higher, despite all the ratified conventions, implemented green policies and adopted technological solutions. Simply put, existent economic systems are currently not aligned with material reality. They are functioning on the basis of exploitation and destruction of resources, understanding the natural environment as a set of resources sitting idly to be exploited for financial gain. Meanwhile, existent systems are not fulfilling even the basic human needs of a significant proportion of the global population.
A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC SYSTEM CAN ONLY BE ONE THAT IS HARMONIZED WITH THE PROCESSES IT DEPENDS ON, MEANING THAT IS ALIGNED WITH THE MATERIAL LAWS OF NATURE.
Therefore, the bioeconomy deals with the following questions as well. How to build a sustainable economic system that addresses resource scarcity, reduces environmental impacts, functions within the planetary boundaries and enables well-being? How to utilize biological resources in a sustainable manner and how we can scale it up?
Over the years it became increasingly clear that the incremental technological changes as inputs in the existing economic system are not sufficient to realize sustainability targets. The utilization of renewable resources did not manage to catch up with the ever-increasing consumption rates. Therefore, many theorists and practitioners have realized that bioeconomy in a technological sense can only be sustainable in a sustainable societal framework.
TODAY, THE BIOECONOMY IS INCREASINGLY SEEN AS AN INTEGRAL ELEMENT OF A BROADER SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF CURRENT MODES OF LIVING AND PRODUCTION.
So, the previous technocentric definition is today often expanded in various ways, depending on the ideological variations of different proponents of bioeconomy, to include societal transformation as well. In essence, technological and economic aspects must be followed by the ideological and behavioural transformation from reductionistic, idealistic, linear, and exclusively growth-oriented social systems to sustainable and circular systems that take into account a wider array of variables and concepts related to ecology, planetary boundaries, sufficiency, efficiency, and well-being.
In order to accent some of the key elements of bioeconomy and further distinguish it from the linear economic systems (which imply that natural resources are limitless and that planetary systems have an infinite capacity for regeneration) we can often come across terms such as sustainable bioeconomy or circular bioeconomy, even if there might not be a divergence from the original term. This is also to further distinguish between the techno-optimist narrative and the scientific community which accents the necessity of decreasing global consumption rates in order for the solutions that bioeconomy suggests to be sustainable. Currently, there is no scalable technological solution which can support the current quantity of consumption and be sustainable at the same time. Proponents of bioeconomy often accent the concept of sufficiency as a key for overcoming this behavioural barrier, implying a reduction in overall material and energy use, without compromising human well-being.
As the transformation towards a truly sustainable society includes various systemic elements and levels, the bioeconomy requires a transdisciplinary approach (including agricultural science, biotechnology, philosophy, social sciences, etc.), and diverse local practices and perspectives. The transition to a bio-based and post-fossil economy also brings up controversial questions related to local needs, environmental justice, social inequality, and ecological colonialism. A just societal transformation requires an explicit focus on the distribution of burdens and benefits related to the implementation of bioeconomy policies, and ensuring democratic processes for affected communities.
DESPITE ALL THE HARDSHIPS AND CHALLENGES, THE BIOECONOMY REMAINS AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE FOR ADDRESSING CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL CHALLENGES SUCH AS SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE.
The shift to bioeconomy is an integral part of implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one of the tools for meeting the climate commitments from the Paris Agreement due to its potential to significantly aid in mitigating climate change by lowering reliance on fossil-based resources and energy. European Union has adopted the Bioeconomy strategy for a sustainable Europe which accents, among other previously mentioned things, its potential for renewed and strengthened industrial base, modernised primary production, and job creation. Many countries have also developed and adopted bioeconomy strategies on the national level, and we are witnessing bottom-up movements which are increasingly advocating for the implementation of basic principles of bioeconomy.
Author: Siniša Borota, sociologist
Picture: Institute for Development and Innovation