Is the Emerging Bioeconomy Part of Your Future?

I had the opportunity to attend the BIOCAP conference held recently in Ottawa. Although you may not be familiar with BIOCAP, this organization has been actively pursuing the bioeconomy since 2002. BIOCAP (Biological Capital) is composed of many individuals and organizations from agriculture, industry, government and academia. They have collectively been able to allocate $5.7 million, which has leveraged over $20 million for research. The goals of BIOCAP are to promote a national research effort to focus on the development of a sustainable biosphere system to manage greenhouse gases and provide “Green” sources of energy, chemicals and materials. They are helping to advise governments through science on ways to “Capture Canada’s Green Advantage”.

Positioning Canada

“So what”, you say! “Why do I care?” Well, it’s an excellent question, but I think the answers will evolve over the next couple of years. Things are changing rapidly. The potential “fruits” of this bioeconomy are starting to show signs of the immense potential available to Canada. Here are some incredible figures. Canada is home to 7% of the global land base, along with 10% of the forests and 15% of the world’s fresh water. We are beyond rich by any stretch of the imagination. Coupled with this, we have an agricultural and forestry infrastructure that is in place, productive and efficient. These sectors are in an export position, which suggests that diversion to domestic uses would be non-disruptive, if shifts were to occur.

We are encouraged with the potential to reduce smog, cut reliance on foreign oil, benefit rural communities and increase the overall economy for Canadians. At the same time, we must be concerned with potentially negative impacts, such as over exploitation of natural resources, decimation of forests, and reductions in the sustainability of forest and farmlands, as well as reductions in water quality and quantity. So the path forward is a balancing act.

Producing & Processing Biomass

The bioeconomy is focused on the conversion of biomass from crops, forests and organisms to industrialized fuels or hard products (plastics, chemicals, etc). Its goal is to sustainably maximize biomass production and then efficiently convert the potential energy stored in biomass to energy or products we can utilize. Harvesting biomass is not new. Until about 200 years ago, biomass capture was how energy demand was met. Thirty percent of cultivated farmland was devoted to the “fuel” to run the engines of agriculture (horses and oxen), supply heat, and provide shelter, clothing and tools.

Our role in agriculture will be to sustainably produce, store and process biomass into other products. Biomass production is all about efficiently and sustainably maximizing the harvest of the sun’s radiant energy. The production of traditional crops (corn, soybeans and cereals), and new crops (switchgrass, micanthus, reed canary grass, willow and many others), will provide the precursors for fuel, chemicals and other materials. How our agricultural infrastructure will need to change will depend on the sectors of the bioeconomy that individuals aim for.

Rural Community Development

There is great encouragement within all levels of government that the bioeconomy can be an important part of rural community development. In Europe, where anaerobic digestions systems are rapidly evolving to supply electricity and biogas to the greater economy, farmers have seen increases in revenues and profits. Non-farm employment has developed in rural areas to service the new bioeconomy on the farms. Taxes and population have increased, which has stabilized and improved rural towns and villages.

Benefits To Primary Producers

For producers to benefit from the bioeconomy they will need the ability to capture more of the “added-value” from their production of biomass. On the food, feed and fibre side of the last century, we have been very much price takers. There is a great deal of added-value applied to grains, livestock and other products leaving the farm, but others are capturing much of that value. We must ensure that primary producers capture more of the added-value in the bioeconomy. This will mean being involved in the direct sale of the end product to the consumer. This might include the generation and sale of electricity to the grid. Raw materials might be preprocessed on the farm or in the rural areas to more value added materials such as the extraction of resins or starches as precursors of plastics.

Optimistic But Challenging

I have not provided many details about how the bioeconomy might develop. My goal is to give you an overview of where things might be going. I challenge you to think about this and seek out more information. In future newsletters I will discuss more specific areas. Despite how difficult things have been in primary agriculture lately, I am cautiously optimistic that there are great potentials within reach. However, I’m also realistic in that we have a great deal of work ahead of us to capture the potential value. I am encouraged by the interest of the various BIOCAP partners, including leading global corporations, governments, technological industries and producers, in the future opportunities for the agricultural sector.

For more information on BIOCAP and the emerging bioeconomy, check out the BIOCAP Canada website.

Related Links

• BIOCAP Canada website

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