Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology Gent, Belgium ; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University Gent, Belgium.
Front Plant Sci. 2013 Jun 3;4:174. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00174. eCollection 2013.
The bio-based economy relies on sustainable, plant-derived resources for fuels, chemicals, materials, food and feed rather than on the evanescent usage of fossil resources. The cornerstone of this economy is the biorefinery, in which renewable resources are intelligently converted to a plethora of products, maximizing the valorization of the feedstocks. Innovation is a prerequisite to move a fossil-based economy toward sustainable alternatives, and the viability of the bio-based economy depends on the integration between plant (green) and industrial (white) biotechnology. Green biotechnology deals with primary production through the improvement of biomass crops, while white biotechnology deals with the conversion of biomass into products and energy. Waste streams are minimized during these processes or partly converted to biogas, which can be used to power the processing pipeline. The sustainability of this economy is guaranteed by a third technology pillar that uses thermochemical conversion to valorize waste streams and fix residual carbon as biochar in the soil, hence creating a carbon-negative cycle. These three different multidisciplinary pillars interact through the value chain of the bio-based economy.
生物基经济依赖于可持续的植物资源来生产燃料、化学品、材料、食品和饲料，而不是依赖于瞬息即逝的化石资源的使用。这种经济的基石是生物炼制厂，它将可再生资源智能转化为多种产品，最大限度地提高原料的附加值。创新是将化石基经济推向可持续替代品的前提，生物基经济的可行性取决于植物（绿色）和工业（白色）生物技术之间的融合。绿色生物技术通过改良生物质作物来进行初级生产，而白色生物技术则将生物质转化为产品和能源。在这些过程中，尽量减少废物流或部分转化为沼气，沼气可用于为加工管道提供动力。通过利用热化学转化来提高废物流的附加值，并将残留的碳固定在土壤中的生物炭，从而创造一个负碳循环，保证了这种经济的可持续性。这三个不同的多学科支柱通过生物基经济的价值链相互作用。
