If we are to retain the living standard we enjoy today, and enable future generations to live in dignity, we will have to change the way we live. But how? The aim must be to reduce the use of fossil resources such as coal and oil. What we need is to live and work more on the basis of renewable resources. This is what is known as the bioeconomy.

The bioeconomy is the knowledge-based generation, tapping and use of biological resources, processes and systems, in order to provide products, procedures and services across all sectors of the economy for a viable economic system for the future. The aim is to achieve a biobased sustainable economic model that is geared to natural material cycles.

Research is key to identifying potentials

The German government is supporting this move towards an economy that is based to a greater extent on renewable resources, as well as being more resource-efficient and more focused on resource cycle management. The National Bioeconomy Strategy provides a framework for the sustainable tapping and use of biological resources and environmentally and eco-friendly production procedures across all sectors of the economy.

That is the bioeconomy – a selection of projects

The strategy lays out the guidelines and objectives of bioeconomic policy and identifies measures to implement the policy. For the strategic objectives, specific implementation goals are laid down in the fields of research promotion, framework design and overarching instruments. Research is key to identifying and harnessing the potentials offered by the bioeconomy.

The National Bioeconomy Strategy puts in place the foundations for strengthening Germany’s pioneering role in the bioeconomy, and developing tomorrow’s technologies and jobs. At the same time the German government is accepting its global responsibility in the internationally networked bioeconomy.

The bioeconomy embraces all sectors of the economy and the pertinent service areas, that generate, process, use and trade in biological resources including plants, animals and microorganisms and their products. These include in particular agriculture and forestry, chemicals and pharmaceutics, the food industry, industrial biotechnology, cosmetics, and the paper and textile industries.

Year of Science demonstrates the spectrum of the bioeconomy

The bioeconomy is also a topic addressed by the Year of Science 2020.  The sustainable generation, processing and use of biobased resources are all addressed.

To better illustrate the diversity of this area of research, the bioeconomy is broken down into four fields: plant diversity and innovation, soil health and material cycles, microorganisms and drivers of technology, and the bioeconomy and transformation.