This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book defines the new field of "Bioeconomy" as the sustainable and innovative use of biomass and biological knowledge to provide food, feed, industrial products, bioenergy and ecological services. The chapters highlight the importance of bioeconomy-related concepts in public, scientific, and political discourse. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the authors outline the dimensions of the bioeconomy as a means of achieving sustainability. The authors are ideally situated to elaborate on the diverse aspects of the bioeconomy. They have acquired in-depth experience of interdisciplinary research through the university’s focus on “Bioeconomy”, its contribution to the Bioeconomy Research Program of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, and its participation in the German Bioeconomy Council. With the number of bioeconomy-related projects at European universities rising, this book will provide graduate students and researchers with background information on the bioeconomy. It will familiarize scientific readers with bioeconomy-related terms and give scientific background for economists, agronomists and natural scientists alike.
Economists from around the world discuss Georgescu-Roegen's (1906-94) theories in a number of areas, but especially on environmental and energy economics. They address such topics as how long neoclassical economists can continue to ignore his contribu
Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen (1906-1994) is considered today as perhaps the chief founder of the transdisciplinary field today known as Ecological Economics, but that he defined himself as Bioeconomics. In his later years Georgescu-Roegen intended to write a book of this title that would systematize what he considered to be the most significant results of his work. This project intends to resume this project, publishing a collection of the most relevant Georgescu-Roegen essays on Bioeconomics, including previously unpublished papers.
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen deserves to be called the father of ecological economics. This book connects Georgescu-Roegen's earlier work such as consumer choice theory and a critique of Leontief's dynamic model, with his later ambitious attempt to reformulate the economic process as 'bioeconomics', a theoretical alternative to neoclassical economics.
Research and innovation in the life sciences is driving rapid growth in agriculture, biomedical science, information science and computing, energy, and other sectors of the U.S. economy. This economic activity, conceptually referred to as the bioeconomy, presents many opportunities to create jobs, improve the quality of life, and continue to drive economic growth. While the United States has been a leader in advancements in the biological sciences, other countries are also actively investing in and expanding their capabilities in this area. Maintaining competitiveness in the bioeconomy is key to maintaining the economic health and security of the United States and other nations. Safeguarding the Bioeconomy evaluates preexisting and potential approaches for assessing the value of the bioeconomy and identifies intangible assets not sufficiently captured or that are missing from U.S. assessments. This study considers strategies for safeguarding and sustaining the economic activity driven by research and innovation in the life sciences. It also presents ideas for horizon scanning mechanisms to identify new technologies, markets, and data sources that have the potential to drive future development of the bioeconomy.
This open access book focuses on the meanings, agendas, as well as the local and global implications of bioeconomy and bioenergy policies in and across South America, Asia and Europe. It explores how a transition away from a fossil and towards a bio-based economic order alters, reinforces and challenges socio-ecological inequalities. The volume presents a historically informed and empirically rich discussion of bioeconomy developments with a particular focus on bio-based energy. A series of conceptual discussions and case studies with a multidisciplinary background in the social sciences illuminate how the deployment of biomass sources from the agricultural and forestry sectors affect societal changes concerning knowledge production, land and labour relations, political participation and international trade. How can a global perspective on socio-ecological inequalities contribute to a complex and critical understanding of bioeconomy? Who participates in the negotiation of specific bioeconomy policies and who does not? Who determines the agenda? To what extent does the bioeconomy affect existing socio-ecological inequalities in rural areas? What are the implications of the bioeconomy for existing relations of extraction and inequalities across regions? The volume is an invitation to reflect upon these questions and more, at a time when the need for an ecological and socially just transition away from a carbon intensive economy is becoming increasingly pressing.
Overall, this is an appealing work for students and professionals, and is certain to remain as one of the key works in natural resource analysis. —Mathematical Reviews Biological renewable resources, essential to the survival of mankind, are increasingly overexploited by individuals and corporations that often sacrifice long-term economic health and sustainability for short-term gains. Mathematical Bioeconomics: The Mathematics of Conservation, Third Edition analyzes the economic forces underlying these misuses of renewable resources and discusses more effective methods of resource management. Promoting a complete understanding of general principles, the book allows readers to discover how rigorous mathematical models that incorporate both economic and biological factors should replace intuitive arguments for conservation and sustainability. This Third Edition continues to combine methodologies from the fields of economics, biology, and mathematics to explain how analytic models are essential for developing a complete understanding of complex resource systems. The book has been updated to address the need for incorporating individual economic incentives, the value of diversity, and the overriding importance of uncertainty in mathematical models. Coverage of game theory, overcapacity, uncertainty, and risk analysis has been added as well a expanded treatment of topics such as: Models of individual harvest behavior and economic incentives Response of individual harvester to various types of harvesting regulations Reasons underlying excess harvesting capacity Externalities in resource harvesting industries Decision analysis in biological resource management Fundamental concepts of population dynamics and economics are utilized throughout the book while mathematical techniques are incorporated in an accessible manner. Relevant data from current research sheds light on the presented material, and exercises provide readers with an opportunity to test comprehension of discussed mathematical methods and techniques. Continuing to provide a complete and modernized presentation of the fundamental principles of the topic, Mathematical Bioeconomics, Third Edition is an excellent book for courses on applied mathematics, resource management, and environmental studies at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as an insightful reference for resource managers, ecologists, biologists, and other professionals who work to improve the management of renewable resources and develop sustainable practices in the environmental sciences.
From Waste to Value investigates how streams of organic waste and residues can be transformed into valuable products, to foster a transition towards a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. The studies are carried out within a cross-disciplinary framework, drawing on a diverse set of theoretical approaches and defining different valorisation pathways. Organic waste streams from households and industry are becoming a valuable resource in today’s economies. Substances that have long represented a cost to companies and a burden for society are now becoming an asset. Waste products, such as leftover food, forest residues and animal carcasses, can be turned into valuable products such as biomaterials, biochemicals and biopharmaceuticals. Exploiting these waste resources is challenging, however. It requires that companies develop new technologies and that public authorities introduce new regulation and governance models. This book helps policy-makers govern and regulate bio-based industries, and helps industry actors to identify and exploit new opportunities in the circular bioeconomy. Moreover, it provides important insights for all students and scholars concerned with renewable energy, sustainable development and climate change.
This book gathers a collection of essays that describe recent innovations in food technology including food processing, packaging, food safety, and novel ingredients. By 2050, the world will face the challenge of having to feed an estimated 9 billion people. In order to meet that challenge, innovations in food research are of the utmost importance. The book is divided into four sections, each of which explores an important aspect like food processing, food microbiology, and nutritional security. Written by respected scholars in the field, the respective chapters discuss a range of new and enhanced food materials, as well as processing innovations to extend shelf life and reduce toxic effects. The book also addresses the health potential of various nutraceuticals, bio-absorption of metals and their positive impacts on living systems, as well as methods for reducing food wastage, preventing the loss of nutritive value, and preserving or enhancing palatability. Given its scope, the book will be highly interesting for food scientists, both in academia and the food industry. It will also benefit advanced graduate students and senior researchers.
This book is a review of the basic problems associated with the implementation of bioeconomic processes. The book contains chapters developed by teams from different countries of the world and therefore the chapters correspond to the degree of advancement of the areas within the bioeconomy in these countries. In selected areas, basic concepts and selected technological processes that create this area of the economy to ensure sustainable development have been characterized.
