Technical University of Denmark
DTU
The raison d’être behind DTU’s mission is founded on the polytechnic idea as conceived in the first half of the nineteenth century, since when it has distinguished—and continues to distinguish—all aspects of DTU’s activities and development.
ID: 542229924562-57
Lobbying Activity
Response to Update of the 2012 Bioeconomy Strategy
20 Mar 2018
DTU, Technical University of Denmark, welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the update of the 2012 EU Bioeconomy Strategy. Bioeconomy has a great potential in terms of economic, environmental and social opportunities: technological innovation, industrial competitiveness, increased resource efficiency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, creating more jobs also in rural and coastal areas –all in all leading to a smarter, more sustainable and socially inclusiveness development in Europe -and in the world. To unleash this potential, research in new technologies and innovation through collaboration across sectors play a key role.
DTU sees the provision of solutions to the following challenges as critical in achieving a sustainable development based on bioeconomy and encourage that they are reflected in the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy. These challenges are European and global in nature and would require a focused effort, e.g. as research based missions.
Improved resource efficiency
• Unlocking the full potential of the biomass. Cascading use of biomass, making also higher value products
• Understanding and maintaining natural complexity – less processed bioresources for a broad diversity of food, feed and materials, providing health-promoting products and smarter biobased solutions, aiming at a more responsible consumption of natural resources as water, energy and land
Towards zero-footprint food production
• The vision: future circular value chains supply sufficient, nutritious and affordable food and feed at retail level with lowest possible GHG emissions and closed N and P loops
• Focus on alternative and local sources of proteins and 'healthy’ lipids, e.g. of marine origin.
Biological and biobased, diverse production systems and value chains for production of biobased chemicals, materials and energy, substituting for fossil-based systems and chains
• Sustainable utilization of the full potentials of the biomass (for production of energy, materials, food and feed) in order not to put pressure on biodiversity
• Decoupling biomass production from land and sea surfaces, releasing land for natural ecosystems to flourish ('land-sparing' vs. 'land-sharing'); achievable by unlocking the full potentials of the biological resources, no longer letting more than one third go wasted as is current practice in EU and globally
• Coupling biomass production and processing technologies to provision of ecosystem services in future 'multifunctional' landscapes
Participatory ecosystem engineering for sustainable production and services in future global landscapes (water, nutrients, GHG, biodiversity, human habitats)
• New agricultural and fishery practices contributing to lowering the surplus of nutrients polluting lakes, rivers and marine areas (production of mussels and algae; moving from cereal to more grass cultivation, as basis for the more environmentally benign green biorefinery)
• Encourage closer integration of local production of crop plants and animal husbandry to strengthen the circular bioeconomy
Food and feed ingredients for improved gut health – biorefining pre- and probiotics for improved public health
• Develop gut health promoting food and feed ingredients as an integrated part of the biomass conversion by taking advantages of new fermentation and enzyme technology, combined with and guided by the microbiome genome sequencing
Sustainable aquaculture through improved feeding strategies
• High demand for new fish feed in order to achieve a more sustainable aquaculture; currently around half of the feed nutrients is ending up in the marine environment (sediment and water phase)
Read full response