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Industrial (White) Biotechnology |
The full title of this booklet is:
Industrial White Biotechnology: An effective route to increase EU innovation and sustainable growth
The Introduction, by Feike Sijbesma, a member of the Management Board of DSM and chairman of the European biotechnology association, EuropaBio, is as follows:
Introduction
Industrial (or white) biotechnology, the use of biotecinology in industrial processes, is a subject that rapidly gains priority in the agendas of industry, politics, academia and NGOs. Why? Because white biotechnology has many opportunities to offer, Not only economical benefits, but to an equal extent also benefits to our environment and to our society. Recent studies from MoKinsey and the Oko Institute and reports from OECD demonstrate the need to spend serious attention to building a European strategy to use White biotechnology in a joint effort of the industry, politics and Science,
The USA are moving fast in this field. The current US-administration has adopted the stimulation of white/industrial biotechnology in its governmental programmes and allocated a substantial budget to draft a road map and facilitate to the development and implementation of the use of this form of biotechnology. We should not simply copy the US policy. Instead, Europe and the individual member slates should use the rich potential that Europe offers in terms of knowledge, industrial activities and academic research institutes.
EuropaBio, the EU Industrial Association of Biotechnology, urges all white biotechnology stakeholders to jointly discuss the benefits of applying white/industrial biotechnology in Europe. We would like us to come to concrete steps to mace the use of white biotechnology really happen at a large scale.
In this paper you will find our initial recommendations, both for the Netherlands and for Europe as a whole. To realize the proposed steps, political support at a national and EU level will be very imporltant. It would be very welcomed if the Dutch government uses the Dutch EU Presidency in the second half of 2004 to work out an action plan and present it to Europe. We would hope to see white/industrial biotechnology programmes being secured within the existing EU Framework Programme 6 and in the new Programme 7.
White biotechnology offers the rare opportunity to create a triple win for People, Planet and Profit. Let's not pass this promising development for Europe of which our own and future generations can benefit.
Executive Summary
Industrial biotechnology, also known as white or environmental biotechnology is the application of nature's toolset to the production of bio-based chemicals, materials and fuels.
Current practice in industrial biotechnology demonstrates that the social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) benefits of bio-based processes go hand in hand. Substantial reductions of 17-65% greenhouse gas emissions could be realised, end a more profound shift towards bio-based chemicals could potentially account for up to 20% of the global Kyoto target. The potential economic value of industrial biotechnology for the chemical industry alone is estimated to be euro 11.22 billion per annum by 2010. As white biotechnology is making the industry more sustainable, it is expected that benefits will also been seen across a range of critical society-based areas.
The Netherlands has a long tradition in biotechnology. Dutch-based life sciences companies have an overall yearly turnover of more than 49 billion euro, invest 950 million euro in research and development every year and employ 255,000 people. A substantial part of these life-sciences activities are devoted directly or indirectly to industrial biotechnology. The Netherlands has the infrastructure and potential to become a leading player in industrial biotechnology. To further boost the developments in the Netherlands it is proposed to pursue the following recommendations, among others, during the Dutch Presidency of the EU, which will take place from 1st July to 31st December 2004:
For The Netherlands the following priority setting is proposed for industrial biotechnology: focus on bio-based chemicals, and secondly on biomaterials, and finally on biofuels.
In line with these strategic choices, the Dutch Government should take concrete steps to fully support a Dutch taskforce in order to:
Europe has considerable assets in the field of industrial biotechnology: for instance 70% of the world enzyme industry is European and a high level of knowledge in the field of food tecnnoloqy and fine chemistry is located in Europe. Moreover, there is a strong political and public sentiment to improve industrial sustainability in Europe (Gothenburg objectives) and the objective to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 (Lisbon strategy). For Europe the following recommendations are made.
It is proposed that during the Dutch Presidency of the EU the Netherlands actively participates in the EU technology platform, on sustainable chemistry, where industrial biotechnology forms an integral but independent part. The main tasks of this technology platform would he to:
Contacts
Contact
© Copyright 2006 Policy Statements
Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
- biomatnet@biomatnet.org
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