Disruptive technologies refer to innovations that create new markets
What will be the technology that initiates a new innovation leap and fundamentally influences our lives?
3-D printing, augmented reality and drones are in the headlines today but Industrial biotechnology will have a tenfold impact on our daily life in near future.
The Industrial Biotechnology will break down existing market structures (petrochemical, pharmaceutical, chemical, plastics, food, cosmetics, agriculture) and will present new opportunities to the markets and dictate new rules, and in a speed that is underestimated by most market participants.
Definition of Industrial Biotechnologie
Industrial biotechnology use living cells (such as yeast, algae or bacteria) or components of cells like enzymes, to generate high-value biochemicals and biofuels based on renewable bio-based feedstocks. The first target is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to speed up the process of moving away from a petrochemical-based economy.
Here are the key-points to determine Industrial Biotechnology in a more sincere context:
The main objective is to replace products on the basis of petroleum with renewable products made from the most regenerative resources. In the future bioplastics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, sweetener, vitamins, fragrances, nutrition and many new products still in developing, will be produced by Industrial Biotechnology from renewable resources.
An important goal is to protect our environment through biodegradable/compostable bioplastics and to stop the pollution of the oceans.
The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that synthetic biology and the industrialization of biology will provide a disruptive set of technologies with an economic impact of at least $100 billion by 2025.
Lignocellulosic materials such as corn stover, wheat straw, rice straw, and sugarcane bagasse, crop residues or scrap wood will be the non-edible feedstocks in industrial biotechnology for low-value products (biofuels).
Algae as non-edible feedstock will also be used but for high-value products.
In the past, only the edible part (corn) was used for the production of bioethanol (1st generation of biofuels).
New technologies allow now to use the second half, the non-edible lignocellulose part (corn stover), and this doubles the amount of raw materials that are available for converting to ethanol. So for a given dry ton of feedstock, we're not throwing away half the ton immediately before even start going into the process and that will generate much higher yields.
Bioethanol from cellulosic feedstocks is referred to as the 2nd generation biofuel.
Industrial biotechnology is one of the most promising new approaches to pollution prevention, resource conservation, and cost reduction. It is often referred to as the third wave in biotechnology. Industrial biotechnology will be one of the most disruptive industry of the future, safe and based on renewable resources. If developed to its full potential, industrial biotechnology may have a larger impact on the world than health care and agricultural biotechnology.
In addition to substitution or displacement effects, the industrial biotechnology will lead to the production of new molecules for chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fuels, and material applications, which are not currently possible from fossil fuel sources or traditional chemical manufacturing.
In 2011, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faculty foresight review concluded that we were entering a third revolution in the life sciences. The first had been the DNA, genetics, and molecular biology revolution that provided the basis for today’s modern biotechnology industries and approaches. The second was the genomics revolution made possible by the Human Genome Project. The Third Revolution is based on convergence and will transform next-generation manufacturing and production by merging biology and engineering in completely new ways.
Much too large areas of agricultural land are now used for the manufacture of natural extracts such as fragrances, flavors and sweeteners, which occur only in very small amounts in the plant. Land is occupied, which is missing for the food production.
The production of meat and the production of feed for the meat industry consume large resources of land and water.
The desired plant extracts and proteins can be produced with processes of industrial biotechnology. Agricultural land and other resources such as water and energy are conserved, thereby again become available for future food production.
The available resources should be used only for what they are best suited to ensure the increasing demand for food in the future.
The food industry will significantly reduce the sugar content in foodstuffs in the next few years and, as a result, sugar prices will fall.
However, this bad news for the sugar industry will be the start for a comprehensive transformation of the sugar industry.
It is a paradox, but the sugar is used in industrial biotechnology as a raw material for the production of sweeteners to be able to replace the sugar in the food.
In the future, sugar will become a raw material for bioplastics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, vitamins, fragrances, nutrition and many new products still to be developed in industrial biotechnology.
It will show which one of the sugar industries (corn in America, sugar cane in South America or sugar beet in Europe) will be the first to recognize the upheaval and tackle the necessary transformations.
Sugar will be the feed-based feedstock for high-value products. More information you can find here.
The first generation was in the 19st century the classical biotech, the second generation was the modern biotech in the 20st century and Industrial Biotech will usher in the third wave in the 21st century.
