The European Commission unveiled a new bioeconomy strategy on Thursday (11 October), saying it could reduce the EU\u2019s dependence on fossil resources while underlining the ecological limitations of Europe\u2019s farming and forestry sector.<\/p>\n
The EU\u2019s new bioeconomy strategy will contribute to addressing global challenges such as rising population and climate change, Commission vice-president Jyrki\u00a0Kataianen said as he presented a 14-point action plan in Brussels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bioeconomy can turn algae into fuel, recycle plastic, convert waste into new furniture or clothing or transform industrial by-products into bio-based fertilisers,\u201d the Commission said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It can also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the use of 1 ton of wood instead of 1 ton of concrete in construction can lead to 2.1-ton carbon dioxide reduction, Katainen pointed out.<\/p>\n
Other potential applications include bioplastics that can decompose and prevent ocean pollution. \u201cWe have already decided to create a standard for bio-degradable plastic,\u201d Katainen said, explaining that current bioplastics may be biodegradable but don\u2019t necessarily decompose, meaning they create micro plastics as they degrade.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that is not sustainable at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPartial solution\u201d<\/p>\n
But \u201cthe bioeconomy alone will not do the trick,\u201d Katainen stressed, saying the strategy offers only \u201ca partial solution to the challenges the planet is facing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EU strategy will focus on scaling up European industries, with a dedicated \u20ac100 million investment plan to bring bio-based innovations closer to the market. This will include pilot actions for the development of bioeconomies in rural, coastal and urban areas, for example on waste management or carbon farming.<\/p>\n
The EU\u2019s updated bioeconomy strategy also recognises the potential damages of intensive agriculture and forestry by putting in place an EU-wide monitoring system to track progress in those areas.<\/p>\n
Katainen admitted that the Commission initiative was driven mainly by outside demands. \u201cThe bioeconomy \u2013 it wasn\u2019t our idea initially. It was industry, member states and NGOs who asked us to do things which will improve the use of bio resources in a sustainable manner. And now we are delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the use of bio fertilisers, Katainen replied this was indeed one of the areas the Commission wants to develop.\u00a0\u201cI would really like to see manure used as a feedstock for fertilisers. It is part of the circular economy philosophy. And if we manage to do it, it will have a significant impact on waste-based fertiliser production and use.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strategy doesn\u2019t however touch significantly on bioenergy, which has come under fire in recent years for contributing to deforestation and rising emissions across the globe.<\/p>\n
Bioenergy is \u201cthe overlooked giant of the renewable energy field,\u201d the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report published on Monday (8 october).<\/p>\n
\u201cIts share in global total renewables consumption is about 50% today \u2013 as much as hydro, wind, solar and all other renewables combined,\u201d said Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA.<\/p>\n
And their expansion is expected to continue \u00a0in the next five years, covering 40% of global energy consumption growth, according to the IEA\u2019s\u00a0Renewables 2018\u00a0market analysis and forecast report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Commission unveiled a new bioeconomy strategy on Thursday (11 October), saying it could reduce the EU\u2019s dependence on fossil resources while underlining the ecological limitations of Europe\u2019s farming and forestry sector. The EU\u2019s new bioeconomy strategy will contribute to addressing global challenges such as rising population and climate change, Commission vice-president Jyrki\u00a0Kataianen said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,13556],"supplier":[2317,5585],"class_list":["post-57580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-bioenergy","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57580"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=57580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}