Demographic pressures, environmental damage, and global warming pose growing questions about the sustainability of the existing development model. After years of debate on the subject, bioeconomics now seems to offer both a theoretical paradigm and a concrete plan of action for transcending the oil era.
The industrial revolution of the third millennium, which was officially inaugurated by the Paris agreements of 2015, will be driven by biological resources and industrial biotechnologies. Biological resources from land and sea can be used to produce goods and energy across a range of sectors, from agro-food to forestry and the increasingly dynamic biochemical industry. The broad scope of bioeconomics permits a reappraisal of the production cycles of renewable natural resources and their conversion into food, animal feed, bioproducts, and bioenergies.
To this end it is becoming crucially important to adopt a systematic approach that will make it possible to deal simultaneously with the interconnected challenges confronting society, such as food security, the shortage of natural resources, dependence on fossil fuels, and climate changes. This will help significantly to cut CO2 emissions but also to rehabilitate land, particularly on decommissioned industrial sites.
In 2012, the European Commission adopted a strategy to support the bioeconomy. The aim is, by 2030, to replace some 30% of fossil materials and chemical products with biological resources, to diversify farmers’ sources of revenue, and to create some 700,000 jobs in rural areas. By shifting completely to a bio-based economy, the European Union should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% and Europe should also become less dependent on resources from Russia and the Middle East.
Italy, which boasts a considerable body of chemical expertise, can play a major role in the bioeconomy on both the technological and the production fronts. In recent years Italy has developed a fabric of public and private players, including medium and large enterprises, startups, business organizations, universities, research facilities, and technology parks, featuring a high degree of cooperation and exchange. According to some estimates, this branch of the economy is worth some 250 billion euros, employs almost 1.7 million workers, and boasts greater diversification than in other European countries.
However, there are still many problems to resolve. To increase the production of biomass, to monitor observance of quality standards, to support the demand for bioproducts with a system of green public contracts, and to adopt a strategic national plan for the bioeconomy: these are some of the challenges that Italy will have to meet in the coming years. With a little effort and a great deal of foresight, Europe and Italy can boost and energize the green revolution under way.