Sustainability performance of national bio-economies
Year: 2018
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: as science and education. We thus also expect large variation in the factors driving sustainability outcomes of bio-based development strategies and the appropriate strategies to promote them. In this study, we develop a typology of bio-economies based on country-specific characteristics. We describe five different bio-economy types with varying degrees of importance of the primary and the high-tech sector. While the importance of the high-tech sector is mirrored by the availability of skills, the importance of the primary sector for the national economy is apparently not dependent on the amount of bioproductive land but rather determined by lower levels of skill availability. In terms of sustainability performance, indicators suggest that diversified high-tech economies have experienced a slight improvement especially in terms of resource consumption and material footprints. Levels remain however at the highest levels compared to all other types with large amounts of resources and raw materials being imported from other countries, especially for non-food purposes. Increased competition between food, energy and the environment can push innovations for more efficient use of land, biomass and other resources but it can also increase imports of biomass, especially primary raw materials and associated externalization effects of environmental costs. In an increasingly telecoupled world, these results highlight the following priorities for sustainable development: the necessity of developed high-tech bio-economies to further decrease their environmental footprint domestically and internationally and the importance of biotechnology innovation transfer after critical and comprehensive sustainability assessments.
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W3211260975