Circular (bio)economy & (bio)energy
The rapid technological and economic development of society since the industrial revolution has been heavily supported by the extraction of natural resources. The consumption of these resources to produce goods accompanied by the incorrect disposal of the respective waste has led to negative impacts on the natural and native ecosystems of planet Earth. In the last 50 years, the world population has practically doubled, but in the same period, the extraction and processing of natural resources has practically tripled. Against this backdrop of rapid and worrying environmental degradation in the name of modernization and economic development, the European Commission established with its Member States, in 2019, the European Green Deal, which aims a wide range of proposals on climate, energy, transport and taxation. This commitment aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to the values recorded in 1990) and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
To achieve the established decarbonization targets, it is necessary to promote the implementation of more sustainable processes. For this, the use of new types of resources and a more efficient management of their life cycle (circular economy) are fundamental aspects, with biomass (i.e., matter derived from living organisms) as a resource that can be very important in that transition. In the energy sector, the importance of biomass as a fundamental resource has been increasingly recognized, mainly to produce (bio)fuels for the transport sector, which is practically the only viable alternative, with the existing technology, for the (urgent) decarbonization of heavy road, sea and air transport. This context has led to a greater recognition of the concept of bioeconomy, which can be defined as the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value-added products for society, such as food, feed or other bio-based products and bioenergy.
BCG (Boston Consulting Group) projected in 2019 that the estimated potential of the circular bioeconomy would be an opportunity of 7.7 billion (as defined in Europe) US dollars, this for products, energy and wastes from human/animal food/feed, in 2030, not including the production of food for human and animal consumption. The increasing awareness of the importance of sustainability in the development of society, in order to ensure the continuity of a planet with adequate conditions to maintain its biodiversity, regeneration capacity and the well-being of future generations, makes it clear that the new opportunities that are being developing in the circular economy are a trend that will persist in future generations.
Bio
Sustainable future
The search for new sustainable products, new production processes that use clean energy, and the opportunity of a new growing market for renewable energies, opens new horizons to the current economic and business fabric. It is in the development of this new economy and the opportunity to explore new products and sustainable energy sources, that C-GREEN can be a business development partner for its customers’ business.
The exploration of sustainable solutions in the circular (bio)economy and (bio)energy is the work we develop at C-GREEN. We are currently developing more sustainable solutions for our customers businesses, taking advantage of funding for the modernization of companies and new projects, based on the circular (bio)economy.