Fossil fuels are in finite supply. Moreover, they cause significant pollution: their combustion releases greenhouse gases which have a serious environmental impact. Non-degradable materials such as plastics continue to pollute the environment for years or even centuries. It seems that the future lies in the past: a return to organic raw materials and the ‘bio-based economy’.
The ambitions are high. Many countries, including the USA, Brazil and Indonesia, are already making huge investments in the development of biofuels. Even the Netherlands has shown some interest, but the sceptics question the economic viability of such ambitions. Ours is a small country with limited space – much too limited to cultivate biocrops in a cost-efficient manner. The sustainability of biomass has also been called into question. Is it really as ‘green’ as some people claim? The negative effects of the bio-economy have already become apparent in some developing countries, as large swathes of land which could be used for food production and huge tracts of irreplaceable rainforest are given over to bio-production. Moreover, biological resources are linked with the practice of genetic modification, which can attract considerable public opposition.
On 10 March 2011, the Rathenau Institute presented the findings of a study examining the various options and opinions. It would seem that the Dutch government has managed to formulate a vision which can rely on wide public support. It proposes a bio-based economy in which the key consideration is the efficient use of all resources. But this vision has yet to be put into practice. The risk is that all the good and ‘green’ intentions will be thwarted by the commercial interests surrounding fossil fuels, even though so many people regard the transition to a more sustainable society as desirable, if not essential. The Rathenau Institute’s report includes a number of recommendations intended to facilitate the transition to a truly sustainable bio-based economy.
The research will continue, going on to examine the development of the bio-based economy in China, the mining (and hence depletion) of Africa’s natural resources by both China and Europe, and a general consideration of scarcity of resources
