Bioeconomy

This page – Bioeconomy – is a top level page on nsforestmatters.ca
Posted Sep 14, 2024

Subpages:
– Bioeconomy: Sustainability, Greenwashing, Etc
– Biofuels from Nova Scotia Forests?
– Mass Timber
Also view: In the News/Bioeconomy In the News

On This Page
– DEFINITION OF “BIOECONOMY”
– CANADA: PERSPECTIVES OF THE FEDS & CO.
– NOVA SCOTIA: GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE
– MORE PERSPECTIVES

DEFINITION OF “BIOECONOMY”

Forest bioeconomy at regional scale: A systematic literature review and future policy perspectives
Di Letizia et al. 2023. In Forest Policy and Economics. Extract (references removed):
Since several international scientific institutions provide different perspectives to the concept of bioeconomy, the term is not yet fully defined. Nonetheless, it is agreed that the bioeconomy aims to produce goods and services using renewable biological resources with the support of biotechnologies, and other innovative technologies In addition, wood is emerging as an important primary input to face climate change.

CANADA: PERSPECTIVES OF THE FEDS & CO.

Canada: From A Forest Bioeconomy Framework for Canada (CCFM,2017)

Bioeconomy Definition
The forest bioeconomy refers to economic activity generated by converting sustainably managed renewable forest-based resources, primarily woody biomass and nontimber forest products, into value-added products and services using novel and repurposed processes. Although there is no single, accepted definition of the bioeconomy, it is generally recognized that the key attribute of a healthy bioeconomy is the knowledge-based, competitive, and innovative production and sustainable use of biological resources, processes, and principles to provide eco-friendly goods and services.

This definition distinguishes between the economic activity generated from producing traditional forest products (e.g., pulp, paper, lumber) and new, advanced bioproducts, including biofuels, biochemicals, and other biomaterials as well as advanced building systems (e.g., cross-laminated timber). It also recognizes that the creative application of existing processes to new situations can achieve new solutions. Advancing the bioeconomy requires advancing new knowledge areas, including those based on either advanced genomic research or traditional ecological and Indigenous knowledge.

Potential forest biomass comes from a variety of sources:
–  sustainable wood supply and biomass plantations
(e.g., fast-growing willow species);
–  residues or co-products from manufacturing processes;
–  harvesting residues;
–  nonmerchantable or unmarketable trees;
–  trees and branches removed when rural and urban forest stands are thinned;
–  construction and demolition wood waste; and
–  trees killed by natural disturbances such as fire, insects, or disease

Followup initiative

FPAC.ca : Canada’s First National Bioeconomy Strategy, “Canada’s Bioeconomy Strategy: Leveraging Our Strengths For A Sustainable Future”
May 15, 2019.

“Canada’s first national Bioeconomy Strategy, released today by Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, reflects the views of more than 400 industry representatives from across the country. The Strategy recommends action on four key priority areas identified in foundational work by the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, the Economic Sector Strategy Tables, and Canada’s forestry ministers. These priority areas are:

  • Creating agile regulation and government policy;
  • Establishing biomass supply and stewardship;
  • Building strong companies and value chains; and
  • Building strong sustainable innovation ecosystems.

 

FPAC is the Forest Products Association of Canada “FPAC provides a voice for Canada’s wood, pulp, paper, and wood-based bioproducts producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs.

Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC): Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) is a nationally focused not-for-profit business accelerator based in Sarnia, Ontario. BIC is focused on enabling Canada to become globally recognized leaders in sustainable chemistry focused in these three areas:

– the industrial bioeconomy, which converts renewable resources, such as agricultural and forestry by-products and residues, into value-added bioenergy, biofuel, biochemical and biomaterials
– sustainable processes, which efficiently use the world’s limited resources (eg. water, energy) through innovative technologies
– the circular economy, which recovers and reuses the world’s limited resources

Forestry for the Future (Canada)
www.forestryforthefuture.ca Heavy on the Hype. Difficult to find sponsors…
“Canadian Forestry Is Sustainable Forestry. Canada is recognized among the global leaders in how we sustainably manage our forests. Not only do we have among the strictest provincial and federal regulatory frameworks in the world — requiring foresters to submit comprehensive forest management plans for approval by provincial governments before a single tree is harvested — but Canada leads the world in forest certification, managing 36% of the world’s certified forests, more than twice the area certified in any other country.[3][4] These voluntary standards not only ensure our foresters are harvesting at sustainable rates, but are committed to preserving the wildlife and biodiversity that will help keep our forests as forests forever.[7]”

NOVA SCOTIA: GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE
– Also view the subpage Nova Scotia Forest Biomass

Nova Scotia

See: Government of Canada and Province of Nova Scotia Unveil Collaboration Framework to Drive Economic Growth and Create Jobs
Natural Resources Canada, News Release, July 30, 2024: “The Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia are working together to build a low-carbon economy that drives clean growth and creates good, sustainable jobs throughout the province and across the country.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table (NS Regional Table) is a key vehicle for driving economic prosperity now and into the future. Launched in October 2022, the NS Regional Table is a partnership between the federal and provincial governments, in collaboration with Mi’kmaw partners — and with input from key interested parties — to identify and accelerate shared economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the province’s energy and resource sectors.

Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables, released The Nova Scotia Regional Energy and Resource Table Framework for Collaboration on the Path to Net Zero (Collaboration Framework).

The Collaboration Framework identifies six areas of economic opportunity to pursue: hydrogen, marine renewables, clean electricity, critical minerals, the forest bioeconomy and carbon management. In all of these areas, companies across the province are already moving to seize the economic opportunities they present, and the federal and provincial governments will be there to support them….”

Under “Related Products”, there is a link Regional Energy and Resource Tables – Nova Scotia which list in some detail the governments’ perspectives on Carbon management, Clean electricity, Critical minerals, Forest bioeconomy, Hydrogen, Marine renewables, Sustainable jobs.

From Forest bioeconomy:

Nova Scotia is committed to the protection of biodiversity, wildlife, and species at risk as the province transitions to ecological forestry while advancing the forest bioeconomy. 4 million hectares of forest cover Nova Scotia – approximately 75% of the province – which represents an opportunity to explore the use of forest biomass  [1] to advance the transition to a low-carbon economy and help diversify the province’s energy sources…

Footnote 1: In this context, biomass is renewable organic materials such as plants and wood, animals, and waste, (including byproducts from pulp and paper mills and sawmills) and is the basis for making renewable combustibles fuels called biofuels. Biomass can also be used to make bioproducts which are renewable material or chemical alternatives to fossil-fuel based products such as plastic, fertilizers, or industrial chemicals.

Canada and Nova Scotia seek to collaborate on 3 main pillars to leverage Nova Scotia’s forest sector to advance renewable resources and a sustainable bioeconomy:

  • Increase value-add through development and use of forest bioproducts
  • Advance the production and use of biofuels and bioenergy
  • Support the use of mass timber and off-site prefabrication techniques in construction

MORE PERSPECTIVES
Also view the subpage Bioeconomy: Sustainability, Greenwashing, Etc

Bioeconomy: Shaping the Transition to a Sustainable, Biobased Economy
Iris Lewandowski Editor, 2018. Springer Open Access. 358 pages. From Ch 3. Bioeconomy Concepts by Regina Birner:

Abstract
This chapter consists of three sections. The first section deals with the origin and evolution of the concept of the bioeconomy. It starts by tracing the first uses of the terms bioeconomics and bioeconomy and goes on to review the development of the concept of the “knowledge-based bioeconomy” in the European Union before discussing the rise of the bioeconomy as a global concept. A shift from a “resource substitution perspective” of the bioeconomy to a “biotechnology innovation perspective” is identified. Critical views of the bioeconomy are discussed,

The second section of the chapter discusses the bioeconomy strategies that an increasing number of countries around the world have adopted in recent years. This section uses a competitiveness framework to classify different elements of the bioeconomy strategies.

The third section of the chapter is concerned with bioeconomy governance, focusing on the different actors in the bioeconomy, the ways in which they interact and the governance challenges that they are confronted with

From Section 3.1.5 Arising Criticism of the Concept:

The global rise of the concept of the bioeconomy has not been without its critics. One can distinguish two major types of criticism, which one can label the “fundamental critique” and the“greenwashing critique”…An example of this criticism is a paper by Gottwald and Budde that was published in 2015 on the occasion of the Global Bioeconomy Summit of 2015. These authors also argue that the bioeconomy would promote “land grabbing” and threaten world food security (Gottwald and Budde 2015)

The second type of criticism is not fundamentally opposed to the concept of the bioeconomy but rather warns against the use of this concept for “greenwashing”. An example of this type of criticism is a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature published in 2009 (WWF 2009), which is entitled “Industrial biotechnology—More than green fuel in a dirty economy?” This report acknowledges the potential of the bioeconomy to make modern economic systems more environmentally sustainable, but points out that the approaches that have been promoted under the label bioeconomy do not necessarily realize this potential. The thrust of this criticism is to ensure that the label “bio” is not misused to portray an essentially non-sustainable economic system as environmentally friendly, but to ensure that innovations in the life sciences are indeed used to ensure a transition towards a sustainable economic system.

Bioeconomy-concept, application and perspectives
M Adamowicz – Problems of Agricultural Economics, 2017  “The paper presents the theoretical and practical view on the concept of bioeconomy. It presents methods of the term’s definition, the idea behind it,reasons for its development, its theoretical and practical roots, historical development in Europe and the US and its volumes expressed in production andin employment levels.”

Defining the U.S. Bioeconomy
In Safeguarding the Bioeconomy, Safeguarding the Bioeconomy.
National Academies Press (US); 2020 Jan 14.
Interest in the concept of a bioeconomy—as a research topic and as a focus of economic, technology, and security policy—has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. Currently, there is no consensus on the definition of a bioeconomy, although many definitions share key common elements (such as substituting biological resources for fossil fuels to produce electricity, fuels, and manufactured goods).

Sustainability implications of the EU’s bioeconomy transition along global supply chains
Johannes Többen et al., 2024. In Journal of Cleaner Production
Abstract
The EU has set ambiguous targets for the development of a bioeconomy (BE) that not only ensures sufficient production of high-quality foods but also contributes to decarbonization, green jobs and reducing import dependency through biofuels and bio-based chemical products. However, the various and complex interrelations between the BE, the natural environment as well as wider economy and society risk that the EU’s targets might indirectly compromise achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally…. Our results show that, especially without further measures focusing on the circular use of biomass, the EU’s BE is likely not contributing to a general improvement in SDG indicators. Instead, there are major trade-offs between various SDGs. Firstly, between the goals of climate change mitigation, on the one hand, and preservation of ecosystems through the protection of natural land, especially forests, and water bodies on the other. The second major trade-off is between the EU’s goals of fostering the economic competitiveness and lowering the import dependency of fossil energy and food security especially in low income countries outside Europe.

From the Intro,: ” Major tradeoffs are found with the ecological domain, where bioeconomy concepts targeting at decarbonization (SDG13) may strongly compromise other ecological SDGs especially due to land (SDG15) and water use (SDG6) as well as overnutrition (SDG14) for biomass production (Nong et al., 2020; Meyfroidt et al., 2022). Moreover, in the age of globalization, production and consumption of biomass are geographically separated. For this reason, sustainability impacts of the EU’s BE likely occur virtually everywhere in the world transmitted through the complex network of global value chains (Többen et al., 2018; Bringezu et al., 2021; Lenzen et al., 2021).”

– Neoliberal pathways to the bioeconomy: Forest land use institutions in Chile, Finland, and Laos
Hiedanpaa et al., 2023 in Forest Policy and Economics. Description of Land Use policies etc in Finland illustrate a lot of overlap with NS.