Bio#Futures: Foreseeing and Exploring the Bioeconomy

636 Pages·2021·13.873 MB·English

by  Emmanuel Koukios, Anna Sacio-Szymańska

Emmanuel Koukios
Anna Sacio-Szymańska  Editors
Bio#Futures
Foreseeing and Exploring
the Bioeconomy
Bio#Futures
Emmanuel Koukios • Anna Sacio-Szyma ska
ń
Editors
Bio#Futures
Foreseeing and Exploring the Bioeconomy
Editors
Emmanuel Koukios Anna Sacio-Szymańska
Research Group BIOTOPOS 4CF Strategic Foresight Company
Organic Technologies Laboratory Warsaw, Poland
National Technical University of Athens
Athens, Greece
ISBN 978-3-030-64968-5 ISBN 978-3-030-64969-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64969-2
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Foreword
Turning Ideas to Visions, and Visions to Actions
The world is facing tremendous challenges. This is nothing new. The Club of Rome
already described some 48 years ago in its epochal report “Limits to Growth?” that
this unbridled desire to increase production and consumption will create pollution
and poverty beyond control. Whereas the Europe 2020 strategy recommended bio-
economy as a key element for smart and green growth in Europe, it is clear that even
the most ambitious programs that are currently designed are insufficient to turn the
present crisis around.
We do not need to improve performance, nor do we have to double our efforts to
reduce our impact. Instead, we have to bluntly shy away from the rhetoric and pub-
lic declarations and pass on to action. It has been mentioned that all key innovations
required to turn the present production and consumption model around were already
invented before the Second World War. I agree. True innovations have been invented
by Nature. Perhaps it is time to embrace a bioeconomy where we strive to be as
intelligent as Nature.
This requires a fundamental shift in the business model. We cannot pursue the
quest for evermore efficiency, through economies of scale and standardization,
blended with a blind belief that free trade will make the difference for citizens
around the world. We know that time has come to replace the fetish of efficiency
with a strong commitment to resilience. Our management of natural resources has
to embrace a simple principle: we cannot expect Nature to produce more but instead
we must do more with what Nature produces.
This implies that we will first and foremost submit ourselves to the most basic
laws governing matter and energy: the laws of physics. The basket of opportunities
offered by the laws of physics should be used and depleted before envisioning any
sort of involvement in chemical engineering or genetic manipulation. This innova-
tive approach teaches us that forest regeneration relies on a profound understanding
of the difference between the temperature of the soil and the rain, and that the
management of resulting dew not only brings forests back but this can also provide
v
vi Foreword
the ability to tomato farms in becoming nothing less than net producers of drinking
water. This is the kind of innovation we are looking for: moving from a situation of
aquifer depletion for the production globally traded tomatoes to farming with locally
grown tomatoes that generate more water than needed.
The core shift the book Bio#Futures highlights – which also happens to be my
main interest – is the design of not only new technologies, rather the development
and implementation of new business models that respond to the local needs of
everyone, implying that we take care of all stakeholders, the communities on which
we depend, and the ecosystems we value. If we are not prepared to question the core
business model, which builds on core competences, then we are not getting any-
where close to Nature’s time-proven promotion of life. Imagine: a business model
that promotes life!
There are many cases that demonstrate this; the bioeconomy is not only able to
offer a fresh look at how society could respond to all basic requirement for water,
nutrition, health, housing, and energy, but also generate so much more value that it
also secures jobs. Case studies are key to understand how this actually works. The
communities of Las Gaviotas in Colombia, The Songhai Centre in Benin, Montfort
Boys Town in Fiji, El Hierro in Spain, and Rumpan in Sweden have all demon-
strated clearly that it is possible to convert an idea into a vision through the combi-
nation of what the best of science has to offer with the deployment of the best minds
in business. Those visions were turned into reality precisely thanks to that.
The Bio#Futures book takes this to the level of the skills and tools required as
well as the methodologies applied. However, we have to submit to the readers the
need to apply precautionary principles. Any innovation can have unintended conse-
quences that could never have been foreseen. The spraying of glyphosate applied to
corn and sugar cane as biofuels is one unintended error that clearly affects the health
of a whole population. Illustrations of that are not scarce: the use of palm oil has led
to the destruction of the habitat of the orangutan. The demand for shiitake mush-
rooms grown on oaks has decimated oak forests in some countries.
So, in all our enthusiasm to move forward, we have to maintain a clear objective:
the Common Good. And it is with this purpose in mind that I fully subscribe to this
exercise of Prof. Emmanuel Koukios and Dr. Anna Sacio-Szymańska to put the best
insights that are available today together in this book.
Prof. Gunter Pauli, Dr. h.c.
Contents
Part I Setting the Scene for Bio#Futures
1 Bioeconomy as a Driver for the Upcoming Seventh K-Wave
(2050–2100) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Markku Wilenius
2 What Can We Do? Participatory Foresight for the Bioeconomy
Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Simone Kimpeler, Ariane Voglhuber-Slavinsky, Bärbel Hüsing,
and Elna Schirrmeister
3 The Emergence of Bioeconomy in the 6th Kondratiev Wave
of Change: A Horizon Scanning-Based Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Emmanuel Koukios and Anna Sacio-Szymańska
Part II T owards Circular Bioeconomy and Biosociety
4 Strategies for a Rapid Transition to a Circular, Biobased
Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Lene Lange
5 Circular Bioeconomy: A Path to Sustainable and Climate-Wise
(Material) Economy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Vafa Järnefelt, Anna Tenhunen, Laura Sokka, Pekka Tuominen,
and Raija Lantto
6 The Bioeconomy Perspectives in Transformation Towards
a Circular Economy in Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Danuta Ciechanska, Joanna Kulczycka, Marta Kutyna-Bakalarska,
Olga Janikowska, and Stanisław Bielecki
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viii Contents
Part III BioEcoJust Themes and Approaches
7 Open Biofutures: The Challenge of Maintaining Agency
for Long-Term Futures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Amos Taylor and Nicolas A. Balcom Raleigh
8 Sensing and Making Sense of Emergent BioEthos Using
Futuring Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Nicolas A. Balcom Raleigh and Amos Taylor
9 Bioeconomy in Maturation: A Pathway Towards a “Good”
Bioeconomy or Distorting Silence on Crucial Matters? . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Sofi Kurki and Johanna Ahola-Launonen
Part IV Agro-Food and Healthcare Advancements
10 Technological Landscape of the Agriculture and Food Sector:
A Long- Term Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Leonid Gokhberg, Ilya Kuzminov, and Elena Khabirova
11 Parallels Between the Future for MedTech and Agri-Tech,
Perspectives Drawing on the British Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Malgorzata Grzegorczyk, Pantea Lotfian, and William J. Nuttall
12 Genomic Vaccines for Pandemic Diseases in Times
of COVID-19: Global Trends and Patent Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
C. Possas, A. Antunes, A. M. Oliveira, M. Ramos,
S. O. R. Schumacher, and A. Homma
13 Non-communicable Diseases in the Era of Precision Medicine:
An Overview of the Causing Factors and Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Dimitris Tsoukalas, Evangelia Sarandi, and Maria Thanasoula
14 Obstacles in the Adaptation of Biopesticides in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Chetan Keswani, Hagera Dilnashin, Hareram Birla, and Surya
Pratap Singh
15 Energy Solutions for Agricultural Machinery:
From the Oil Era Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Per Frankelius and Mattias Lindahl
Part V Sustainability Constraints and Prospects
16 Embedding Sustainability Strategies to Protect God’s Gift:
The Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
George P. Nassos
17 Biological Degradation of Odorous Air Pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Damian Kasperczyk, Krzysztof Urbaniec,
and Krzysztof Barbusiński
Contents ix
18 A Systematic Approach for Assessing and Managing the Urban
Bioeconomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Alberto Bezama, Nora Mittelstädt, and Daniela Thrän
Part VI I nnovative Energy Solutions
19 Innovation in Bioenergy: Factors Affecting Innovation
in Biofuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Dariusz M. Trzmielak and Ewa Kochańska
20 Increasing Flexibility of Biogas Plants Through the Application
of Innovative Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Mirko Barz, Hartmut Wesenfeld, Asnakech Laß-Seyoum,
Arvid Meibohm, and Sascha Knist
21 Case Study for Status and Exploration of Microalgae in Egypt . . . . . 461
Guzine El Diwani, N. N. El Ibiari, S. I. Hawash,
Sanaa A. Abo El-Enin, Nahed K. Attia, Ola A. Elardy,
Elham A. AbdelKader, and Samar A. El-Mekkawi
Part VII Bioeconomic Catalysts of Socio-Economic Development
22 Bioeconomy Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
George Sakellaris
23 Bioeconomy as Proponent of Digital Meanings Society . . . . . . . . . . . 507
Sirkka Heinonen
24 New Humanism: A Vital Component of Sustainable
Socio-technical Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Silke Van Cleuvenbergen and Gaston Meskens
Part VIII The Way Ahead, Key Trends and Lessons
25 Bioeconomy in the Twenty-First Century: Global Trends
Analysis Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
Aleksandr Chulok
26 Responsible Innovation in Industry: The Role of Firm’s
Multi- Stakeholder Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Jolita Ceicyte, Monika Petraite, Vincent Blok, and Emad Yaghmaei
27 Inclusion and Resilience in the Bioeconomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Lotte Asveld
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Introduction
Bio#Futures: An Overview
About 10,000 years ago, humans began
to domesticate plants and animals.
Now it’s time to domesticate molecules.
– Susan Lindquist, MIT Professor (1949–2016)1
Scope and Objectives of the Bio#Futures Mission
In order to cope with an increasing global population, rapid depletion of vital
resources, growing environmental pressures, and climate change, world economies
and societies need to radically change their approach to production, consumption,
processing, storage, recycling, and disposal of biological resources. Thus, the
Europe 2020 and other similar strategies have recommended bioeconomy as a key
element for smart and green growth in Europe and other parts of the world.
Advancements in bioeconomy research and innovation uptake will allow Europe
and the world to improve their management of natural resources and open new and
diversified markets for food and bio-based applications.
According to an increasing number of indications, a new mega-wave of socio-
technical change, expected to peak after 2030, will include the emergence of bio-
economy, that is, the whole spectrum of applications of biological sciences and
technologies in all socio-economic areas and sectors, radically transforming our
societies and the world as we know it. The resulting action task and mission will be
to foresee, map, and assess the emergence of this great wave we call “bio-tsunami,”
1 Comment by the late MIT Professor of Biology Susan Lindquist, then director of the Whitehead
Institute for Biomedical Research, at a 2003 Conference in Crete on the subject of self-assembling
peptides and proteins
https://news.mit.edu/2003/peptides-science (accessed on 27 September 2020).
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