Bio-based products
Bio-based products are non-food or feed products produced by plants, animals or microbes using traditional and modern techniques of biotechnology. Europe is a major producer of bio-based products including its large enzyme and chemical sectors. Traditionally enzymes were harvested directly from plant and animal tissues. Now the genes that make these enzymes have been transferred into yeast or bacterial cells and enzymes are produced in large fermentation vessels using a process similar to brewing. Similarly, chemicals that were synthesised in energy-intensive processes are being produced by living cells from which they are purified and extracted.
Biofuels provide energy from waste biological material, such as ethanol from maize stalks and leaves, methane from sewerage plants and diesel from vegetable oils. The major benefit of bio-based products is that they are renewable and, if correctly managed can be sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, which are becoming scarce.
Resources
- EU-Africa BioPact initiative
Outline: BioPact unites EU citizens and African citizens who work towards a common bioenergy future, in which the EU couples part of its green energy policies to its humanitarian and development policies in Africa. We also monitor biofuels and bioenergy news coming from the developing world in general. Click here
- Vision for bioenergy and biobased products in the United States, p8, 2002
Outline: The United States is approaching a biobased revolution that will fundamentally change the way we produce and consume energy and industrial products. From biological resources we can derive products as diverse as fuels and lubricants, heat and electricity, chemicals, food, feed, building materials, paper, clothing and much more. Click here
- Bioplastics initiative in the EU, 2006
Outline: Over the last two years the biotech industry has supported the European Commission to work out a set of concrete steps to realise the vision of a Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE), where biotechnology's new, clean, energy-efficient processes and innovative biobased products create a sustainable industrial base to ensure Europe's future prosperity. The new EU Communication will provide for important support in the areas of bio-based products, such as enzymes, biochemicals such as bio-based building-blocks or bioplastics. Click here
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