Insights
The bioeconomy’s role in global emissions reduction, part 1: Biofuels and biomaterials
Biofuels and biomaterials are keystone climate mitigation technologies. A 2023 study estimated that if all plastics today were replaced with biobased ones, greenhouse gas emissions savings could equal 369 megatonnes, or around 1% of global emissions.
Insect feed for healthier, lower-carbon chicken
The global agricultural industry is at a reckoning. Food emissions are a massive slice of our carbon emissions. To stay within the world’s net zero carbon budget, agriculture must become the target of urgent interventions.
A synbio takeover for AI?
Even the most hardened techno-sceptics have been taken aback by the natural language chat bots that were launched in quick succession over the past few months. Their moments of apparent intuitiveness and fluency makes the user almost forget they are…
The ABCD agro-giants: hidden movers in biobased scaling
Archer Daniels, Bunge, Cargills, and Louis Dreyfuss control 90% of the global grain trade, plus considerable parts of the food processing chain. Collectively known as the ABCD companies, they may not be as recognizable as the big four oil or…
Plastic-eating microbes hit the market
Microbes work wonders for us. Without their metabolic powers, traditional fermented foods like beer and cheese would be absent from our tables.
Eat your packaging: greening the food chain with edibles
In 2022, biodegradable packaging materials accounted for around 9% of the global packaging market. A niche sub-segment within biodegradable packaging are edibles, whose materials are made from organic materials.