Biotechnology has long held out the promise of providing alternative methods of industrial production that are both environmentally friendly and economically efficient, thus breaking the seemingly inevitable circle of industrial growth fuelling environmental damage. Until now, however, there was little in the way of hard evidence to support the assumption of such potential. A new OECD report, The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability, cites actual case studies as proof that economic gains and respect for the environment can go hand in hand.
The report draws on 21 case studies from a wide range of industrial sectors: pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, bulk chemicals, food and feed, textiles, pulp and paper, minerals and energy. The case studies also cover a wide range of countries: Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa.
The case studies show how governments and the private sector apply biotechnology in industrial development, how they make decisions about adopting or rejecting the use of this technology, how they acquire the necessary skills to use it and how biotechnology contributes to reduced cost and improved sustainability.
Two major areas of biotechnology covered in the report are the use of renewable resources ("biomass") and the use of bio-processes (bio-catalysts, enzymes) in industrial production. While the report points out that biotechnology applications may need to be used in tandem with other tools or integrated into other processes in order to be most effective, it also finds that their use invariably leads to reduction in operating costs or capital costs or both.
The report concludes that it is in the interests of both developed and developing countries for governments to promote the appropriate use of biotechnology. New "bio-processes" can substantially reduce emissions and the use of hazardous raw materials. They result in fewer by-products, generate fewer waste materials and consume less energy.
Journalists may obtain this report from the
OECD Media Relations Division
. This report is on sale through the
OECD Online Bookshop
.
For further information, journalists are invited to contact
Iain Gillespie
, Head of Biotechnology Unit of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (tel. [33] 1 45 24 92 32) or
Meggan Dissly
, OECD's Media Relations Division (tel. [33] 1 45 24 80 94).
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"The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability"
148 pages, OECD, Paris 2001
Electronic version available (pdf)
€30; FF196.79; US$27; DM58.67
ISBN 92-64-19546-7 (93 2001 06 1)
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