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Until now, most efforts to solve the climate
crisis have focused on how to reduce
the carbon footprint of our current economic
system. However, this approach will
not alone lead us onto the right path as it is
concerned with eliminating a problem rather
than building a new economy.
Efforts to solve the climate crisis must focus
simultaneously and speedily on all sectors,
all gases in all regions on how to reduce the
carbon footprint of our current economic
system. However, this approach will not lead
us onto the right path if only selective actions
are being taken which may focus only on
short-term economic benefits and costs.
If we do not radically alter the system and
construct a 21st century green economy we
are likely to reduce the problem but not solve
it entirely.
Furthermore, enhancing the efficiency of the current system will not build an economy
capable of providing the jobs and services
needed for 9 billion people, within the limits
of our planet.
Creating a new economy seems an overwhelming
task to most of us and obviously
no one knows how a future sustainable economy
will look like. However, if we have the
courage to rise to this challenge and alter our
perspective we will see that certain technologies
and sectors have an often overlooked
potential to help us take the important steps
on the path toward sustainability.
Industrial biotechnology is one such sector.
Even though the sector is still in it’s infancy,
it globally avoids the creation of 33 million
tonnes of CO2
each year through various applications,
without taking ethanol use into
consideration, whilst globally emitting 2 million
tonnes of CO2
With this report, WWF sets out to explore the
magnitude and nature of this sector in our
search for pathways toward a green economy
and a sustainable future. The potential is
enormous, but the uncertainties and pitfalls
are many. The courage, vision and drive of
the world’s politicians, investors and business
leaders will ultimately determine whether
we realize this potential.
The path toward a green economy will not
be easy, but we must be mindful of where
we are likely to end up if we continue on our
current path. With this in mind, it is clear that
there is no alternative to explore these innovative
pathways.
EXECUTIVE SUMMA
This report concludes that the full climate
change mitigation potential of industrial biotechnology
ranges between 1 billion and 2.5
billion tCO2
e per year by 2030, compared
with a scenario in which no industrial biotechnology
applications are available.1
This
is more than Germany’s total reported emissions
in 1990.
However, the type of emission cuts we pursue
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 being
realized. Industrial biotechnology is no
exception.
The question is to what extent industrial
biotechnology can transform a fundamentally
unsustainable system into a sustainable
biobased economy – or just provide a
streak of green in a dirty system.
Some current biotechnology applications reduce
emissions but also lead to a high degree
of carbon feedback. This is most noticeable
when enzymes are used to produce biofuels
used to substitute fossil fuels in vehicle engines.
Vehicle biofuel can save large quantities
of CO2
, but it supports a carbon intensive
transport system and further strengthens the
social, institutional and cultural dependency
on such systems. These reductions are valuable
and needed in the short term but risk
binding us to future emissions if we don’t pursue
further transformation of the economic infrastructure.
Indeed, the production of biofuel
will also lead to some very low-carbon feedback
mechanisms in the future as bioethanol
know-how and resources have paved the way
for the development of biorefinery technology,
and which has created the technological
foundations for replacing oil-based materials
with biobased materials.
The analysis of current technological and
market developments within the biotechnology
sector identifies opportunities to pursue
a path of lower GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions
over time as illustrated in the figure on
the right page. However, it is crucial to ensure
that the progression from improved efficiency to the substitution of oil-based materials, and
toward a circular economy where materials
are reused, is unhindered.
This report identifies four fundamental dimensions
of the contribution of industrial biotechnology:
improved efficiency, the substitution
of fossil fuels, the substitution of oil-based
materials and the creation of a closed loop
system with the potential to eliminate waste.
As the industry develops and matures there is
a possibility that the elimination of oil-based
products and closed loop systems will make
up the major proportion of the industry’s GHG
reduction contribution, although all four dimensions
will contribute. There are substantial
differences not only between the reduction
potential of the four dimensions but also
the extent of high and low-carbonfeedbacks
they create.
The actual impact of industrial biotechnologies
on GHG emissions will largely depend
upon the overall socio-economic environment
and the policy landscape surrounding the dissemination
of these technologies. Therefore,
for industrial biotechnologies to realize their
full GHG emission reduction potential it is
paramount that strong public policies and private
sector strategies are in place to channel
the sector’s growth toward low-carbon paths,
while avoiding high-carbon lock-ins that are
often attractive due to their potential to deliver
short term GHG emission reductions.
Such policies and strategies should:
• Support existing and new efficiencyenabling
solutions to fully capitalize on their
short term potential
• Anticipate and nurture the progression towards
large scale biomaterial and closed
loop systems
• Ensure that the supply of industrial biotechnology
feedstock land is managed according
to principles of sustainability
The industrial biotechnology industry can
realize such goals by pursuing strategies
such as:
• Scoping existing markets to identify areas
where higher GHG emission reductions can
be achieved with existing or emerging industrial
biotechnology applications
Developing standards and tools, to be deployed
systematically across the industry
and for all applications, that document the
GHG impacts of industrial biotechnology
solutions
• Working with customers and suppliers to
develop funding instruments for low-carbonsolutions
• Pursuing R&D and market investments in
biobased materials following ‘Designed for
the Environment’ approaches, which include
solutions to ‘close the loop’
• Working with policy makers to develop
policies that support the progression towards
large scale biomaterial and closed
loop systems
• Supporting the development and implementation
of public policies that address
the risk of unsustainable land use practices
being associated with the production of industrial
biotechnology feedstock
Major crises such as the climate change demand
bold approaches. As difficult as it is, we
must change the mindset and the practices
that got us into this crises to start with. Just
improving old technology will not be enough.
If we fail to acknowledge and support technologies
and sectors as the ones described
in this report, we risk reducing the problem
at the expense of solving it. Advancing the
industrial biotechnology sector into a rapid
establishment of a bio refinery infrastructure,
able to compete with the petrochemical complex,
is a great example of such a bold a crucial
approach.