Last month I attended the annual conference of the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) which for someone relatively new to this area provided a fascinating insight into the role that industrial biotechnology could play in moving us to a low carbon economy.
A key message from the conference was the lack of wider public understanding of what the bioeconomy is and the role of industrial biotechnology. I have taken it upon myself to try to provide a layman’s view in this blog and explain the link to the circular economy another not widely recognised term.
Our current economy is an oil-based economy where we rely on oil not only as a fuel for energy and transport but also as a raw material for the vast range of chemicals that we use in our day to day lives for example in the manufacture of plastics, food, day to day products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
In a bioeconomy, biological feedstocks would replace oil as the feedstock. An official definition of industrial biotechnology is set out in the Scottish National Plan for biotechnology. http://www.ibioic.com/file/National%20Plan%20for%20IB%202019%20PDF.pdf
“The use of biological resources for producing and processing materials into desired intermediate and final products including energy and high value chemicals. “
At the conference I was fascinated to hear for example how algae could play an important role in a future bioeconomy. These small but highly versatile organisms can be grown quickly and efficiently-assuming a cheap energy source is available and contain a wider range of chemicals that we use on a day to day basis. Other natural feedstocks discussed included seaweed, wood and by-products from the agriculture and food industry which provide the link to the circular economy where we treat by-products or wastes as a resource rather than items for disposal.
Many of the by-products from the agricultural and food and drink industry could provide a feedstock for making chemicals or other products that could replace less sustainable alternatives. Key examples from the conference include Horizons Proteins who are developing a process to recover proteins found in distillery by-products which could provide a source of protein for salmon feed and would replace current sources which include fish meal and imported protein. CuanTec has developed technology to extract chitin from waste langoustine shells. Chitin has value in itself for use in a range of products but CuanTec has gone further and used it to develop a fully compostable packaging solution for food products.
Other examples include MiAlgae who produce microalgal products through the remediation of wastewater which can be used as nutrient supplements for fishmeal in livestock feeds. Carbogenics has developed a material that boosts the gas yield from anaerobic digestion plant made out of paper cups and waste paper.
These are just a few examples in what is a growing industry. What was clear from the conference was that the development of the bioeconomy is still at its early stages in Scotland. However, the Scottish Government is committed to supporting its growth and the role of IBioIC is to support this new and innovative sector and to help bring much of the research currently being undertaken to commercial reality http://ibioic.com/.
At Circular North-east in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, we are keeping an eye on these developments and are happy to work with interested companies on finding opportunities to gain higher value from their waste.