Biobased for Growth: A public-private partnership on biobased industries

06-07-2012

Our vision is that of a competitive, innovative and sustainable Europe: leading the transition towards a post-petroleum society while decoupling economic growth from resource depletion and environmental impact. We envisage a biobased economy founded on locally
sourced and produced plant and waste-derived materials, chemicals, fuels, food and feed. At
the heart of this vision are biorefi neries which will gradually replace oil refi neries by using
renewable resources in place of fossil fuels. In doing so, biorefi neries will play an important
part in spurring growth and drive the effort to reindustrialise Europe.

To accelerate innovation and to boost market uptake and public awareness of biobased
products, a European Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for biobased industries is needed.
Putting the European Commission’s strategy "A Bioeconomy for Europe" into practice, the
objectives of the PPP are to foster "radical innovation", from R&D and deployment to
market pull, to deliver biobased products superior, or at least comparable to, non-biobased
products in terms of price, performance, availability, and sustainability.

This global paradigm shift from oil-based towards biobased materials represents a unique
opportunity for Europe to kick-start a world-leading competitive bioeconomy with signifi -
cant economic, environmental and societal benefits. It will build on existing EU strengths
and resources, embracing technological and scientific excellence and creating new and novel
partnerships between hitherto unconnected industries. Supplementing food production, the
conversion of biomass into bioproducts will likewise present a chance for the EU27 agricultural
and forestry sectors to diversify revenues and revitalise rural areas.
Emerging global trends show that leading economies are seizing on the bioeconomy too.

The US and China have declared it the bioeconomy a priority putting in place ambitious
bioeconomy policies1 and investments in biorefi neries. Nevertheless, the EU, with its strong
agricultural, agro-food and forestry sectors and world-leading companies in the plant breeding,
biotech, renewable energy and chemical/biochemical industries, is technologically
poised to spearhead the development of a biobased economy with a global market value
of €200bn
by 20202.

Whilst the European industry is already making signifi cant investments in biorefi neries,
there remain critical technological, political and commercial challenges to be overcome
before any large-scale commercialisation can succeed and innovative solutions brought to
the market. Some of these barriers relate to the nascent and fragmented nature of emerging
biobased industries as well as incoherent policy frameworks. Yet the most fundamental challenge
which remains is to build new value chains and improve the economics of production through upscaling and industrialisation.

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