Huge white biotechnology investment is needed to reap benefits, say scientists

By Karen Carstens

Date: 22/01/04

THE EU must invest heavily in industrial biotechnology research to boost both environmental and economic growth, say Belgian scientists.

Biological processes, known as white biotechnology, are behind a revolution that the EU cannot afford to miss, their report forthe Royal Belgian Academy Council of Applied Sciences (BACAS) states.

The authors want an EU action plan on environmental technologies due later this month to provide a boost for the sector, to distinguish it from agricultural (green) and medical (red) biotechnology.

Researchers from Ghent University say the EU is already lagging behind the US in the development of energy-saving technologies, including renewable sources using sugars or vegetable oils, to make a wide range of products such as vitamins, pharmaceuticals, solvents, bioplastics and pesticides.

In America, where the promise of a new "bio-based economy" has spurred a long-term strategy and technology road-map to 2020, companies already produce bio-materials for soft-drink cups, bedding and clothing.

The BACAS report has been backed by the Belgian government and by European industry associationEuropaBio.

"We welcome the academy's report which we hope will better inform politicians and the public about how industrial biotech products offer significant ecological benefits and frequently show technical performance benefits," said EuropaBio Secretary-General Hugo Schepens.

The white biotechnology sector already accounts for around 5% of chemical industrial production across the European Union and the proportion is forecast to rise to up to 20% by the end of the decade, the report predicts.

EuropaBio has also estimated that it could account for at least 10-20% of European chemical production by the year 2010, and save €11-22 billion through lower production costs.

Producing vitamin B2 using enzymes rather than complex chemical synthesis, for example, has cut production costs by 40%.

Firms want the European Commission to produce a rules framework to help them exploit white biotechnology.

The Royal Belgian Academy Council of Applied Science (BACAS) published a report January 2004 showing how biological production processes (white biotechnology) can create the sustainable products that are good for people, planet and profit.

http://www.europabio.org/documents/150104/bacas_report_en.pdf http://www.europabio.org/documents/150104/bacas_report_en.pdf

http://www.europabio.org/ne_150104.htm http://www.europabio.org/ne_150104.htm

http://www.europabio.org/white_biotech.htm http://www.europabio.org/white_biotech.htm

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