Biobased Chemicals and Bioplastics: Finding the Right Policy Balance

摘要

At the heart of the OECD publication, The Bio-economy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda, is the need to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in particular the need for drastic reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.' That same publication envisaged a future bioeconomy in which biotechnology could be responsible for 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in OECD countries, with this number excluding the potential of biofuels. It goes on to predict that well before 2030 biotechnology will be used in the development of all pharmaceuticals and most new varieties of large market crops. Since publication of the report, several countries and regions have responded with bioeconomy strategies, among them Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United States, the European Union, and South Africa. Many foresee a gradual replacement of fossil-derived materials with biobased products. Most bioeconomy strategies make the case for biobased production industries that cover biofuels, biobased chemicals, and biobased plastics. The following (adapted) text from the European Union is illustrative:2