The future economic system will be increasingly based on biology. Scientific advances promise unprecedented opportunities to increase food production, cure diseases, generate energy, purify water and filter carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By 2030, the bioeconomy could be worth between four and nearly 30 trillion dollars worldwide, according to a new report by Schmidt Futures, the philanthropic initiative of ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
The report calls on the US to invest billions of dollars in the development of biologically produced materials, medicines, fuels and food. Instead of turning petroleum into products, manufacturers would use microbes, biomass and other biological, renewable resources as feedstocks. The goal, he said, is to use biotechnology and genetic engineering to produce new kinds of materials and food sources, and to create new, cheaper and more environmentally friendly resources.
But where are we today? Which inventions are already on the market, which are currently being tested, and what still awaits us? A new graphic from the GDI shows a wide range of possibilities that the bioeconomy holds:
Learn more about the possibilities of the bioeconomy at the 19th European Trend Day. Under the theme Biophilia: When Nature Becomes the New Tech, experts will show how the understanding of nature and our relationship with it is changing on 8 March 2023 at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. We will present new findings from research and the most exciting start-ups. Sign up now!