About the theme

It is an industrial production model based on the use of biological resources. The goal is to offer solutions for the sustainability of production systems with the aim of replacing non-renewable fossil resources. The main pillars of the bioeconomy are the production of bioenergy, chemical inputs and renewable materials, replacing the petrochemical and charcoal industries with the bioindustry or biologically-based industry.

Yes, it is. The economic development of the country has a history of using biomass energy ranging from sugarcane cycles to energy forests for the steel industry, especially including the national ethanol program (Pro-Alcool) initiated in 1975, and the biodiesel program (Pro-óleo) in the 1980s. In the mid 2000s, the national program on biodiesel production and use (PNBIO) strengthned and modernized the concept of interactivity between public and private action. It was possible to couple technologies with management mechanisms that were able to generate leaps in competitiveness on a broader scale of generation of alternative sources of renewable energy. From that period on, there has been an international trend of increased biofuel production, as a response to the threats created by oscillations in fossil fuel prices and by global climate change. Today, Brazil is the world's second biggest producer of ethanol, biodiesel and cellulose.

It is an innovative economy with low carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which conciliates the requirements for sustainable agriculture and food security with the sustainable use of renewable biological resources for industrial purposes, while safeguarding biodiversity and environmental protection. It can be said that it is an economic model that corresponds to the expectations of the contemporary society regarding environmental issues that involve the exhaustion of fossil resources and the consequences of pollution.

 

Mostly agribusiness. One of the main needs of the bioeconomy is the supply of raw material (biomass) in large volumes, with quality and constant flow for the agroindustry, which can be used to generate inputs, bioproducts, materials, bioenergy, and others. However, the energy platforms are designed to extrapolate the scope of agricultural production, incorporating innovations in the entire production chain, contemplating aspects related to agroindustrialization, to the processes of converting raw material into energy products, to logistics and management issues, socioeconomic and environmental impacts, future world production and trade scenarios, which includes monitoring the development of research concerning technologies that complement or compete with those that are developed in Brazil.

It is based on the optimal and sustainable exploitation of all inputs, with minimal waste generation. In agriculture, the inputs from a production chain can be obtained from the residue of another production chain. As an example, there is the use of sugarcane bagasse to generate bioelectricity.

The bioeconomy has potential to strengthen the national economy, especially due to the ability to add value to agricultural products. Today, the strongest pillar of the Brazilian economy is agribusiness. The country is a large commodity producer and exporter, and the bioeconomy can further revigorate this segment by offering value-added products with sustainable characteristics to the market . A good example is cellulose. Brazil is a large pulp exporter, but the bioeconomy has potential to both diversify and add value to the use of this raw material with high-technology products, not only for paper production but also for the textile and chemicals industries, among others. Moreover, Brazil is a protagonist in the production of biofuels worldwide. And they have significant importance in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

Another fact to emphasize is the Brazilian megabiodiversity, which is a genetic springboard at the disposal of science for the development of biological inputs, bioproducts, new polymers, bioassets and sustainable technologies. The sustainable exploration of this biodiversity, especially with modern biotechnology tools, can be determinative toward Brazil gaining protagonism in the bioeconomy at a world level.

It is an initiative by the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) that consolidates an action plan for the bioeconomy in the country by 2022, and it is the first government document in the area. The Plan is related to the National Strategy of Science and Technology (ENCT) and defines the focus of the bioeconomy as the exploration of renewable biological resources to the benefit of agriculture, food, energy, health and welfare. The goal is to leverage public policy in Brazil.

- Establishment of a National Bioeconomy Policy, in line with public policies on bioenergy, like Renovabio, aiming at increased competitiveness in Brazil;

 

- Establishment of Strategic Intelligence System for biomass energy, with a focus on the mapping, availability and characterization of biomasses, residue and effluents in the Brazilian territory, aiming at informing investments in structuring the emergent biologically-based industrial complex (bioindustry);

- Breeding and genetic Improvement of agroenergy raw material - saccharine, amylaceous and oleaginous plants - aiming at productivity gains, tolerance to abiotic stresses, resistance to pests, and acquisition of traits that facilitate industrial processing/exploitation. Special note for molecular marker-assisted breeding, the use of transgenic tools, and gene editing;

- Development of efficient industrial processes to desconstruct lignocellulosic biomass (pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis) and fully explore biomass (cellulose, hemicelulose and lignin) for the production of energy, chemical products and renewable materials;

- Development of vehicles moved by ethanol-fueled cells;

- Development of technological routes for aviation biokerosene and synthesis gas production or thermochemistry;

- Processes of Biogas/biomethane production from urban and industrial waste and effluents. Highlights on biogas reform processes aiming at synthesis gas production;

- Development of Industrial Biotechnology and biophysical, chemical and biological processes, aiming at the production of biofuels, bioassets, enzymes, polymers, organic acids, polyols, among others. Highlight on the use of microorganisms that are genetically modified through the use of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology techniques;

- Development of new industrial processes in the scope of the alcoholchemistry, oilchemistry and glicerochemistry aimed at the production of renewable materials and chemical products;

- Technical-economic modeling and life cycle analyses (LCA) as guiding tools for investments in new raw materials/processes/products in the context of biorefinaries.