White Biotech TP is funded by FP6

Reports

	Industrial biotechnology - A driver of sustainable growth in Europe White biotechnology processes can help to make industrial manufacturing processes more environmentally friendly. They are performed in a contained environment, and have the potential to produce high yields of specific products with low energy use and minimal waste generation. The potential of white biotechnology is very promising and it is expected that white biotechnology will be a key technology contributing to the achievement of the Lisbon strategy to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. Also EUs major trading partners recognize the importance of white or industrial biotechnology for their industrial base and have already put in place well-funded long-term strategic plans. In the light of this, the following vision for white biotechnology has been developed by Suschem.

	Industrial biotechnology - A Strategic Research Agenda for Europe The Industrial Biotechnology section of the Sustainable Chemistry Technology Platform (SusChem) has developed a Strategic Research Agenda, which should be seen as part of an overarching SRA for the whole of SusChem. On the other hand, the key commercial objectives for an R&D programme are: The development and production of novel, innovative products and processes in a cost- and eco-efficient manner, increasingly using renewable raw materials, as well as the discovery and optimization of improved microbial strains and biocatalysts. To achieve this, seven major areas of research and technology were identified cooperatively by the stakeholders: 1. Novel enzymes and micro-organisms, 2. microbial genomics and bio-informatics, 3. metabolic engineering and modelling, 4. biocatalyst function and optimization, 5. biocatalytic process design, 6. fermentation science and engineering, 7. innovative downstream processing.

	Industrial biotechnology - A Policy Agenda for Europe Industrial or white biotechnology has the potential to form the basis of a future EU knowledge-based bio-economy and make European society both more sustainable and more competitive. This report puts forward concrete policy proposals to encourage the development of a Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE). The need to develop policy coherently across the EU and to coordinate its implementation is of primary importance. It is equally important that the policy should be based on sound evidence. With the enabling policy framework in place, full support then has to be given to innovation in biotechnology in general, and white biotechnology in particular. Within this context, it is important to foster the synergies between the various participating sectors, for example by stimulating public-private partnership. The next challenge is to provide market-based mechanisms to overcome investment hurdles by, for example setting appropriate public-sector procurement standards, short-term positive price discrimination or promotional labeling (eg “bio-based”). Finally, a coherent communications plan will be needed to raise awareness of the potential of industrial biotechnology.

	How industrial biotechnology can tackle climate change Climate change is “hot” right now, intensely discussed by politicians, business, society and the media. Reducing the impact on the world’s climate is a key element in sustainable development and of particular importance for industry. Industrial or white biotechnology offers one of the most promising new approaches to pollution prevention, resource conservation, and cost reduction. Applications of white biotechnology can contribute to meet the EU’s environmental objective to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% in 2020.

	WWF - Industrial Biotechnology - More than green fuel in a dirty economy? This report concludes that the full climate change mitigation potential of industrial bio¬technology ranges between 1 billion and 2.5 billion tCO2e per year by 2030, compared with a scenario in which no industrial bio¬technology applications are available.1 This is more than Germany’s total reported emis¬sions in 1990. However, the type of emission cuts we pur¬sue from industrial biotechnology and how we achieve them makes a crucial difference. As with most technologies, the potential to achieve sustainability objectives does not automatically translate into such goals be¬ing realized. Industrial biotechnology is no exception. The question is to what extent industrial biotechnology can transforma fundamen¬tally unsustainable systeminto a sustain¬able biobased economy – or just provide a streak of green in a dirty system.

	Biotechnology for clean industrial products and processes This report made by the OECD in 1998 illustrates how modern process biotechnology is penetrating industrial operations, and highlights its environmental and economic advantages over other technologies. The report identifies technical and other bottlenecks, but also emphasises that industry and governments must act together to address the challenges of industrial sustainability.

	The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability This OECD publication from 2001 brings together a wide range of case studies in order to show how companies have implemented biotechnological processes and the means they have used to assess benefits in term of costs and sustainability.

	White biotechnology – Gateway to a more sustainable future White biotechnology is the application of nature’s toolset to industrial production. Detailed case studies were combined with a market analysis by McKinsey to estimate the impact on the three elements of sustainable development: People, Planet, and Profit (“Triple P”). The results demonstrate that the social, environmental, and economic benefits of white biotechnology go hand-in-hand. In this sense, energy efficiency is boosted, raw materials consumption is decreased, CO2 emissions are substantially reduced, and production costs are usually lowered. However, white biotech cannot achieve its full potential without a coordinated effort on the part of all stakeholders. Therefore, the creation of a stakeholder Technology Platform to build a strategic alliance for white biotech is seen as necessary in order to benchmark Europe with other OECD countries, create European white biotech vision and road map, create financial incentives and build public awareness and support.

	En route to the Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy By 2030, the products of white biotechnology and bio-energy will have an estimated one-third share, worth €300bn, of industrial production. Biotechnology is expected to help meet the most urgent global challenges by facilitating the development of a sustainable economy built on bio-based industrial processes. Combined with advanced bioprocess engineering the development of high performance crop plants is the key to this vision becoming reality. In this sense, biotechnology will have matured from a discovery science into an engineering science and we will see, for instance, the construction of synthetic cells, capable of selectively producing define products. Indeed, several hurdles need to be overcome: there is a growing need for interdisciplinary education and joint research; competitive tax incentives will be needed to attract private capital; a single European Community Patent will help to reduce the cost of intellectual property protection; the co-ordination of European and national programmes related to KBBE should be improved. In sum, science needs the support of society!