The Bioeconomy in Europe: a future-looking asset for growth and development

The bioeconomy comprises all sectors that use renewable biological raw materials. A market worth over €2000 billion that employs 22 million people. Leading the way are Germany (€330 billion), France (€288 billion) and Italy (€260 billion). These are the findings of the annual The bioeconomy in Europe report produced by the Intesa Sanpaolo Research Centre in collaboration with Assobiotec. Many sectors are affected and involved in the bioeconomy strategy, representing a broad cross-section of the European and domestic economic system. According the European Commission, the bioeconomy includes agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and the pulp and paper industries, which are joined by the parts of the chemical industry that use natural and renewable raw materials (biochemicals), such as biofuels.

 

The opportunities connected to the bioeconomy

The bioeconomy is a market with enormous potential, as is the entire biotechnology market. In 2012 the European Union adopted a strategy aimed at encouraging more sustainable use of natural resources with a reduction in emissions and better protection of the ecosystem. The final goal of the strategy is the development of the so-called bioeconomy which, according to the European Commission definition, is an economy that uses biological land and marine resources, as well as waste, as input for manufacturing and the production of food and energy.

As such, the bioeconomy has great potential: it can support economic growth with the creation of jobs in both the farming and industrial sectors, it can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and it can improve the environmental sustainability of the economy.

 

The new Horizon plan

On 22 October Brussels will unveil its review of the European bioeconomy strategy. The target is highly ambitious: 300 biorefineries in Europe by 2030. There are currently 50 active biorefineries. The new Horizon Europe plan, the follow-up to its predecessor Horizon 2020, will also be launched. The new plan will allocate €10 billion to research in the agriculture, food and rural development sectors. The structure will be similar to that of Horizon 2020: the biggest new development will be the creation of synergies between the European Union programmes in order to pursue missions that take account of sustainable development. Good news for Italy then, which had secured most projects up until 2017.

 

The European strategy

The European strategy is based on three pillars:

  • Investment in research, innovation and skills, both through the Seventh Framework Programme and the Horizon programmes.
  • Greater policy coordination and stakeholder engagement: the strategy involves the creation of a bioeconomy panel to establish synergies and complementarities with other policy areas, the creation of a bioeconomy observatory to assess the progress and impact of the policies, the involvement of local and regional institutions through the mapping of existing research activities, and the development of international cooperation.
  • Acquisition of greater expertise regarding the development of primary natural resources and the definition of a common method for evaluating environmental footprints.