On 13 February, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn presented the Commission’s new strategy on the Bioeconomy entitled "Innovating for Sustainable Growth: a Bioeconomy for Europe". The strategy is aimed at helping "to drive the transition from a fossil-based economy to a sustainable bioeconomy in Europe, with research and innovation at its core."
Read the full communication and the accompanying background working document.
The new strategy, as expected, is more about new economic opportunities and concentrates on technological development, research and competitiveness of the biotech sector. It says very little about new biophysical limits ‘(energy and resources) and how these will seriously impact the future of economic growth in the long run.
It follows in the footsteps of the liberal growth-obsessed vision of the bioeconomy is the OECD’s work in this area. See for instance: “The Bioeconomy to 2030: designing a policy agenda”.
For an alternative perspective on economics which takes into consideration thermodynamics and the ecological and energy limits of our global economy, read this introduction to Biophysical Economics, the excellent article “Does Economics Violate the Laws of Physics?” in Scientific American and the recent book by Charles Hall and Kent Klitgaard: “Energy and the Wealth of Nations”.
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