Golden rice symbolizes the protracted trench war between proponents and opponents of modern biotechnology. The Swiss Ingo Potrykus of ETH Zürich is the golden man behind the golden rice. With great ardour he defends this controversial rice, and attacks the … Read more
The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking, abbreviated as BBI JU, is in the final stages of the procedure to award funding for new research and development proposals. BBI JU is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership between the EU and the Bio-based … Read more
Modern history is full of stories of new chemicals sold on a large scale and afterwards causing problems. Sometimes, this causes a major upheaval. But by far the largest poisoning in history, that by tetraethyl lead, never ended in a … Read more
Why cannot we lift all barriers for the use of bioenergy? Because the energy sector is much larger than the food sector. The 20 billion tons of fossil fuels that mankind uses each year, is equivalent to 40 billion tons … Read more
Anyone attached to Greece (and I am one of them) knows moussaka, one of the most traditional dishes of the Greek kitchen. I have mixed feelings on it, even though I love all ingredients of this oven dish with aubergines … Read more
Anyone who opposes genetically modified (GM) food can tell you that ‘in France’ they found that GM maize causes cancer in rats. This study was conducted under leadership of Gilles-Éric Séralini, professor in molecular biology at the University of Caen. … Read more
This year, August 1 is Earth Overshoot Day. Each year, this is the day at which mankind has used up its stock of biological resources for that year. Never has this Day been so early in the year, meaning that … Read more
Last January, the news that a Chinese team of scientists had cloned macaque monkeys drew a lot of attention. Discussion was quick – too quick – to focus on the question if cloning monkeys could lead to cloning humans. But … Read more
In four earlier articles we came to the conclusion that geopolitics of fossil, mineral and agricultural resources will become less important. But a new geopolitical dimension quickly rises to the forefront: geopolitics of information. Information becomes less reliable. People create … Read more
Last week I visited a network meeting focusing on rural development. This focus area lies at a somewhat greater distance from direct bio-based developments, but nevertheless will be impacted by the bio-based economy. One of the participants mentioned the lack … Read more
The impact of mineral, fossil and agricultural assets as a weapon in international politics will gradually become smaller, we concluded in three articles. Substitution of critical materials and the development of new technologies play a crucial role in this process. … Read more
Can food supply and access to clean water develop into geopolitical weapons, like fossil energy has been for many years? If so, we should see a structural imbalance between food and water on the one hand, and population on the … Read more
At the last EFIB, October 2017, in Brussels, there were indications that national bio-economy strategies are beginning to lag behind market developments and vision. Current company bio-based strategies move towards a circular economy, and go beyond just low carbon and … Read more
Over 150 organisations worldwide endorse a new statement that proposes banning oxo-degradable plastics for packaging worldwide. Signatories include leading businesses, industry associations, NGOs, scientists, and elected officials. They include M&S, PepsiCo, Unilever, Veolia, British Plastics Federation Recycling Group, Gulf Petrochemicals … Read more
The solar industry is in turmoil. The price of solar panels falls continuously and each year demand grows by 30%. This poses a major challenge to an industry that is quite sizeable already, with an expected turnover of some $ … Read more
European biofuel policy is being revised. November last year, the new draft renewable energy directive (RED II) has been proposed, and decisions on it will be taken in the coming months. The main difference with RED I is a further … Read more
In an interview about digitization of education, Onderwijs moet de voordelen van ICT gebruiken, published in the Dutch newspaper NRC, May 8th, 2017, the president of the Dutch Education Council, also a professor educational economy, was asked whether programming and … Read more
Mankind will have to grow more food on less land, so Hidde Boersma and Joost van Kasteren argue in the recently published volume (in Dutch) Ecomodernism, Rethinking Green and Growth. Genetic modification will play a major role in this process. … Read more
In three columns, I have investigated the question of bee colony collapse and neonicotinoids (neonics), the effect of pesticides on pollinating insects and natural pest predators, and finally the services that biodiversity renders to agriculture and the economy. I observed … Read more
In the first two columns in this series, I pictured the difficulties in establishing the truth on neonicotinoids (or neonics) and their effects on pollinating insects. The stakes are high. Neonics represent one third (in monetary value) of all insecticides … Read more
Neonicotinoids tend to have a detrimental effect on bees and other pollinating species – unsurprisingly so, because these ‘neonics’ (at a much higher concentration) are designed to kill insects. But it appears very difficult to gather solid evidence of adverse … Read more
As the struggle around neonicotinoids in the European Union is nearing a decisive phase, and my mailbox becomes overflown with panicky messages from both sides, I decided to make up my mind as to the truth of bee colony collapse: … Read more
The term bioplastics causes much confusion and will continue to do so, according to my conviction. The public does not seem to grasp the difference between bio as in biobased and bio as in biodegradable. As the plastic soup problem … Read more
A number of American companies offer Do-It-Yourself genetic engineering kits on the internet, in order to practice Synthetic Biology and Biological Design at home. With these biokits one can alter the genetics of living organisms such as E. Coli-bacteria or … Read more
The European biobased economy strategy should not lead through drop-in chemicals. The key is in Smart, Small and Clever. This is the second of two columns on the European biobased economy strategy, published on 23 October and 27 October 2016. … Read more
Earlier this year, German nova-Institute published another thoughtful document on the biobased economy. It starts out from the observation that ten years of European policy making have not been very successful. The amount of biomass used in the European chemical … Read more
Imprisonment is the worst criminal punishment available to a European citizen. The long-term loss of freedom is loathsome for human beings, and the incarcerated almost always long for freedom. That is why stories involving prisons so often involve prison breaks, … Read more
Recently Ecover, the ‘sustainable cleaning company’, announced a plan to use oil from genetically modified algae as a feedstock for their detergents. They were denounced in the strongest terms by Friends of the Earth and other NGOs. As if this … Read more
Scientists again called for a slowdown of gene technology, last August in Science. A group of 26 researchers called for safety measures in the area of gene drives. As a matter of fact, for a moratorium. This was not the … Read more
Germany’s nova-Institute has published the first comprehensive market study on the consumption of compostable and biodegradable plastics in Europe, announced managing director Michael Carus at the 9th International Conference on Bio-based Materials, which the institute hosted this week in Cologne. … Read more
Early this year, the Ellen McArthur Foundation published a policy report ‘The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the Future of Plastics’. This is an important document, as it wraps up responsible thinking about the mounting problem of plastic waste, and what … Read more
The launch of a new macroeconomic scenario study marked the opening of the ECO-BIO conference in Rotterdam today. Biorenewables fulfil a key role in climate policy and in future economic development, says the LEI/Copernicus report, concentrating on the Netherlands. In … Read more
European seed companies are worried about the future. The existing sector – particularly in the Netherlands, Germany and France – is founded upon plant breeders’ rights, but the patent system is gaining the upper hand. TTIP (the coming trade agreement … Read more
In discussions on genetic modification, the name Monsanto invariably produces much controversy. Both its critics and its proponents can be very emotional. We will argue that Monsanto has taken the wrong turn in green biotechnology. This is the second article … Read more
Recently I attended several biobased networking events where utilization of waste and by-products was discussed. I found these interesting talks; both because my company Abstraction partners with ARN to supply a tool to register by-products, and because it surprises me … Read more
In preparation for Paris 2015, the new major climate summit, researchers publish many scenarios on the reduction of greenhouse gas production. Over the years, these have become more pessimistic. As the world longer postpones adequate measures, it will have to … Read more
North-western Europe has the best feedstock in the world for biobased industries, says Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks’ CEO and largest PLA producer in the world. He could have added: also the largest sugar factories, the highest yields per hectare, outstanding research … Read more
Microplastics are a major source of water pollution. The litter found in oceans and inland waters is dominated by plastics. This litter does not only consist of large items like plastic bottles and bags, it also contains microplastics if only … Read more
They are so wonderful, the ads of ‘100% natural’ products. In pastels, images of cute flowers and little animals pass along. Natural is hip. For consumers who request ‘pure’, nature’s cruelty is carefully hidden away. And also the fact that … Read more
Last month, the European Parliament finally agreed on a new compromise on the use of biomass for energy. Nova Institute listed the main effects of the new regulations on the (competing) sector of biochemicals and biobased materials. Competition for biomass … Read more
Sorry, we publish this review of Dutch innovation policy in Dutch only.
Sorry, we publish this article on Dutch research policy only in Dutch.
We should create a carbon tax now, as energy prices are low, said the British economist Paul Ekins last week in The Hague, at a conference on green growth. That will allow us to start the necessary transformation towards taxation … Read more
Energy efficiency is our cheapest energy source, with a very large potential. It has been so for forty years and will probably continue to be so for decades to come. And yet, 99% of energy policy and energy debate is … Read more
‘Let a thousand flowers blossom,’ chairman Mao said long ago. This concept could be appropriate to the number and diversity of the unusual phenomenon of the Green Deal, a mechanism devised by the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs to ease … Read more
Would there still be safe havens if the sea level starts rising as a result of the greenhouse effect? For the time being, people will be relatively safe in industrialised countries. Even in low-lying countries like the Netherlands, that will … Read more
One of the discussion themes in the corridors of the World Bio Markets conference in Amsterdam last week, was industry-government relationships. Major European biobased industries feel frustrated that they invest in other continents, whereas they received so much support from … Read more
‘Socialise the risks and privatise the gains’ has been the reigning economic principle in the financial world in the past few years. Now such a mechanism also appears to be functioning in the much less murky innovation process. And here … Read more
There is a very strange body of regulation for biobased innovation subsidies. These rules seem to be exclusively intended to direct biomass and agricultural wastes to the energy sector, ignoring higher-value applications in green chemistry. Will that endanger further development … Read more
