Background to Emerging Bio-Economies

Abstract

The bio-economy is a contested concept, but it generally refers to the replacement of fossil fuels with biological matter (e.g. plants) in the production of energy, materials, and chemicals. As a concept, it has emerged over the last decade or so as a policy strategy promising a win-win-win solution to environmental problems like climate change. For example, the bio-economy promises to resolve environmental problems, create jobs and economic growth, and ensure energy security. As a result, the bio-economy concept has spread around the world, being taken up by a range of countries, in different ways, as a viable transition pathway. This chapter introduces the reader to the bio-economy and the specific example I use in the rest of the book, namely, liquid biofuels.