Biobased economy

Biobased economy, bioeconomy or biotechonomy refers to all economic activity derived from scientific and research activity focused on biotechnology. In other words, understanding mechanisms and processes at the genetic and molecular levels and applying this understanding to creating or improving industrial processes.

The term is widely used by regional development agencies, international organizations, biotechnology companies. It is closely linked to the evolution of the biotechnology industry. The ability to study, understand and manipulate genetic material has been possible due to scientific breakthroughs and technological progress.

The evolution of the biotechnology industry and its application to agriculture, health, chemical or energy industries is a classic example of bioeconomic activity.

History

The term was first defined by Juan Enríquez and Rodrigo Martinez, Life Sciences Chief Strategist at IDEO at the Genomics Seminar in the 1997 AAAS meeting. An excerpt of this paper was published in Science."

Wageningen University and Research Centre

Wageningen University and Research Centre (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a Dutch public university in Wageningen, Netherlands. It consists of Wageningen University and the former agricultural research institutes (Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek (DLO)) of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. Wageningen UR trains specialists (BSc, MSc and PhD) in life and social sciences and focuses its research on scientific, social and commercial problems in the field of life sciences and natural resources. In the field of life sciences, agricultural and environmental science, the university is considered world-class. According to the Times Higher Education Ranking it is the best university in the Netherlands and No. 47 worldwide.

Wageningen University

Wageningen University offers undergraduate and professional degrees, including doctorates. The university has about 10,000 students from over 100 countries. Its core focus is the life and agricultural sciences. It is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) university network.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology (Dutch: Technische Universiteit Delft [ˈtɛxnisə ˌynivɛrsiˈtɛi̯t ˈdɛl(ə)ft]), also known as TU Delft, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technological university, located in Delft, Netherlands. With eight faculties and numerous research institutes it hosts over 19,000 students (undergraduate and postgraduate), more than 3,300 scientists and more than 2,200 people in the support and management staff.

The university was established on 8 January 1842 by King William II of the Netherlands as a Royal Academy, with the main purpose of training civil servants for the Dutch East Indies. The school rapidly expanded its research and education curriculum, becoming first a Polytechnic School in 1864, Institute of Technology in 1905, gaining full university rights, and finally changing its name to Delft University of Technology in 1986.

Dutch Nobel laureates Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, and Simon van der Meer have been associated with TU Delft. TU Delft is a member of several university federations including the IDEA League, CESAER, UNITECH, and 3TU.

Economy

An economy (Greek οίκος-household and νέμoμαι - manage) is an area of the production, distribution or trade, and consumption of goods and services by different agents in a given geographical location. The economic agents can be individuals, businesses, organizations, or governments. Transactions occur when two parties agree to the value or price of the transacted good or service, commonly expressed in a certain currency.

Economic activity is spurred by production which uses natural resources, labor, and capital. It has changed over time due to technology (automation, accelerator of process, reduction of cost functions), innovation (new products, services, processes, new markets, expands markets, diversification of markets, niche markets, increases revenue functions) such as that which produces intellectual property and changes in industrial relations (child labor being replaced with universal access to education).

A given economy is the result of a set of processes that involves its culture, values, education, technological evolution, history, social organization, political structure and legal systems, as well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions.