The growing applications of biotechnology are raising ever higher expectations: It should contribute to climate and resource protection, among other things, by enabling new forms of biomass, food and energy production.
The challenge here is that industrial biotechnology itself often requires large amounts of energy and resources such as water. In the ‘Zukunft Bio-ÖK’ project, commissioned by the German Ministry of the Environment, experts and stakeholders developed options for the future of biotechnology in a sustainable bio-economy.
"Biotechnology offers many opportunities, for example in food production or the recycling of plastic. However, the danger lies in trying to ‘solve’ the problems of our time, such as a lack of resources or growing plastic waste, with new technologies instead of implementing more far-reaching measures", says Gudowsky, summarising the results.