We need a new plan to build a truly sustainable industrial ecosystem without resources from the earth
When we thought about Energy Abundance in my last article, today I want to talk a little more about materials and the bioeconomy. What we need is a somewhat tangible plan of where we actually need to and can start to accompany such a transformation. Advances in life science could transform economies and societies and help address global challenges like climate change or resource scarcity.
Advances in life science and technology are sparking a revolution - the Regenerative Revolution. This could have a major impact on the economy and our lives, affecting health, agriculture, consumer goods, energy and materials. Which I will briefly discuss later.
To what I actually want to say. No matter what minerals are needed, we will need large amounts of them because renewable energy sources like wind and solar require extensive mineral resources to make the infrastructure for fossil free energy.
And therein lies a challenge. Given the estimated number of electric vehicles (EVs) of various vehicle classes on the road today, it is clear that current global reserves are insufficient to build just one generation of batteries for all EVs and stationary power storage in today's global industrial ecosystem. Same is true for solar etc.
The new plan to build a truly sustainable industrial ecosystem without resources from earth
To ensure a continuous supply of sustainable materials/metals/minerals, we need to diversify the sources of these materials. This can be done by using parallel technology systems that rely on different material chemistries. These systems could be implemented now and would provide long-term sources of supply.
A key element is finding new, innovative ways to use minerals, metals, and materials from our industrial wastes and encouraging the production of products that can be easily recycled.
Restructuring society and the industrial ecosystem to consume less and build a new relationship with raw materials and energy may be necessary. I have already explained the approach of degrowth here. I think it is a sensible path, but also more difficult to implement than creating new materials and energy systems.
We need to direct the use of materials to essential uses such as building a new energy system, materials for building homes, and transportation rather than consumer goods.
We also need to rethink our current thinking. Do we need to focus solely on the chemistry of lithium-ion batteries? Are there alternatives? How can we secure material supplies for the development of the energy transition? How can this be achieved through the extraction of primary and secondary metals?
Many systems and products that we take for granted today may soon become impractical at current consumption levels. For example, is it possible to find solutions to free large-scale agriculture from its dependence on petrochemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, or can small-scale organic farming methods produce the food we need? Can the plastics industry be supplied with bioplastics, and if so, how much biomass can be harvested sustainably?
These are the questions we are asking ourselves at INTI Institute. If we continue to explore ideas and research in this direction, who will develop them? So far, most of the research in this area has not been developed/funded or the intellectual property is in the archives of universities or companies. Our world is clearly at a crossroads. We believe it is possible to move in a good direction. But to do so, we need concerted and focused action aimed at creating entirely new infrastructures for a new kind of civilization. We believe that we can help build this infrastructure by connecting the deepest thinkers with the fastest doers.
Synthetic biology allows us to use biological organisms to sustainably produce products such as regenerative materialism, fuels, fertilizers and new forms of energy. We believe that access and intellectual property to these technologies will be critical to addressing the existential threats of climate change and demand for materials and energy. INTI is a global and open community that funds and promotes academic and independent research projects in this area. We help researchers maximize the impact of their work by taking their research results beyond the laboratory setting and into the real world.
The Regenerative Revolution - Innovations that change the economy, society and our lives
Up to 60 percent of the physical inputs to the global economy could in principle be produced biologically—about one-third of these inputs are biological materials (wood or animals raised for food) and the remaining two-thirds are non-biological (plastics or fuels) but could potentially be produced or replaced using biology. Therefore, it is possible that bio-innovation could impact up to 60 percent of physical inputs, although there is still a long way to go to reach this full potential. This is based on current assumptions about the bioeconomy. My belief is that we can get there even faster, as evidenced by some modest progress thus far. Even if we only make modest progress in this direction, such as through what we eat and wear, what medicines we take, and how we build our physical world, this would have enormous implications for our society and lives.
A pipeline of about 500 use cases, almost all of which are scientifically feasible today, is already visible. We interviewed some of those projects and researchers in the last few years. These applications alone could have a direct economic impact of up to $4 trillion per year over the next ten to 20 years. More than half of this direct impact could be outside of human health in areas such as agriculture and food, consumer goods and services, and materials and energy production. Taking into account potential knock-on effects, new applications, and further scientific breakthroughs, the total potential could be far greater.
New biological capabilities have the potential to fundamentally change the economy and society
Biotechnology will be important for the future of manufacturing. It will become the foundation for our future infrastructure and take on a much more significant role than it does today. We are interested in funding projects that will contribute to the development of synthetic biology for future infrastructures.
To make it clear again, for us BIOECONOMY is regenerative and we do not obtain raw materials from the earth in the future. We create them.
Scientists are using yeast to produce carbon-neutral plastics, among other things. Some companies are already producing biofuels for planes and boats using genetically engineered microbes.
Advances in molecular biology, genomics and precision agriculture are enabling the spread of personalized medicine and food production. Instead of random discoveries in science, it is becoming easier to develop something for specific applications. This will allow us to develop and adapt materials for their particular environment.
The possibilities for manipulating and reprogramming human and non-human organisms are increasing. Gene therapies could cure some diseases, crops can be manipulated to produce higher yields and be more resistant to heat or drought - traits that are becoming increasingly important in the face of climate change. With more energy we'll also have the opportunity to do regenerative agriculture, as costs in other areas of life will tend toward zero.
A combination of biology and computer technology is improving discovery, throughput and productivity in research and development. Biotech companies are using robots in their labs that can increase throughput tenfold. Advanced analytics using machine learning are providing better insights during the R&D process. How about using this development in a new INTI laboratory ? To solve targeted climate and social problems and not only those of large companies?
New biomachines - devices that combine biology with technology - are being developed that allow humans to interact with computers. These devices include neuroprostheses - artificial organs that restore lost sensory functions, such as bionic vision, or that allow signals from the brain to move an artificial limb. Other biomachines use DNA to store data, allowing them to store a million times more information than hard drives. Each kilogram of raw DNA could store the entire world's data. Other uses could be for your body to regulate the temperature in the house, etc.
Our goal at INTI is to foster the scientific development of solutions to specific problems and technologies in synthetic climate biology. During this period, applications will be primarily in two one areas:
Materials, chemicals and energy. New biological processes for producing and processing materials, chemicals, and energy could create new industries and transform many of the industries we rely on today. This is the sector we primarily want to cover with INTI. As this offers the greatest societal benefit. Some examples of possible innovations are the production of fuel from microbes that can be used in cars and airplanes, metals produced by plants, generators made from bacteria, bacteria that store CO2, 3D printed rockets made from artificial nacre, glass that produces energy, and the production of self-repairing tissue for humans. If these new processes catch on, they could have an annual impact of $200 to $300 billion on the global economy by 2028. I think this sector is going to get much bigger, but let's leave it at those numbers.
The direct annual global impact of the Bioeconomy Revolution could be $2 trillion to $4 trillion in 2030-40.
Biology has many other potential applications, although some of them are probably further in the future. It could contribute to environmental protection through biosequestration - the use of biological processes to sequester carbon emissions from the atmosphere - and bioremediation. Impact is also emerging in the areas of biomachinery interfaces and biocomputing, where science and development are still in their infancy but applications are promising. Among the applications already developed is neuroprosthetics to restore hearing and vision.
The direct potential impact of the 500 or so use cases may be only a small part of the potential scale of impact. Many other innovations are being developed in private laboratories or in the defense industry, where developments remain secret for commercial or national security reasons. Such projects would be better off in an independent "research center" like INTI. But that's just a thought of mine here at this point. You can help us to make this vision a reality.
Ultimately, the impact will ripple out to almost every sector of the economy, affecting society and the environment as biological innovations change profit sources, value chains, and business models. If you don't make organic products in the next few years, you will most likely consume them. The impact could go much further, as biology could be used to address some of the great challenges of our time, such as mitigating climate change. By 2040 to 2050, the direct applications we identified could reduce annual average human-caused greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 9 percent from 2018 emission levels.
We need a new plan to build a truly sustainable industrial ecosystem without resources from the earth.
A total of 173,000 terawatts (trillions of watts) of solar energy continuously hits the Earth. That's more than 10,000 times the world's total energy consumption. How can we harness the full potential of the sun to produce energy, materials and more?
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