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Why this new journal?
Author: Bruce E Dale, Editor-in-Chief
For over two centuries, humans have made increasingly more fuels, chemicals, materials and other goods from fossil resources; especially petroleum, coal and natural gas. Now, in many regions of the world, the trend toward increasing use of fossil resources is peaking and beginning to reverse itself. In the upcoming decades we will witness a continuing worldwide shift away from near total dependence on fossil raw materials. Instead, we will increasingly develop the 'bioeconomy' in which plant-based feedstocks become the sources of fuels, chemicals and many manufactured goods.
The bioeconomy transformation is driven by many international, national and local issues. These drivers are expected to continue for the foreseeable future and include:
- Huge, and increasingly expensive, petroleum imports
- The growing global appetite for fossil fuels
- National security (manifested at many levels)
- Concerns about rising greenhouse gas levels
- The desire for greater economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas
- The drive to attach value to ecosystem services
- Slower economic development in poor countries that lack oil
- The desire for stable feedstock costs for the fuels/chemicals industries
The scope of the change envisioned is breathtaking: we are transforming from an oil-oriented non-renewable economy to a bio-based renewable economy. Worldwide, trillions of dollars of new wealth will be generated, millions of new jobs created and society, perhaps especially rural society, will be transformed. This change will profoundly affect all sectors of the global economy.
Some have viewed the bioeconomy as an illusion: a 'political' phenomenon - that is, as merely a response by political leaders to pressure, rather than one rooted in underlying realities. This view is mistaken. All mature commodity fuels and chemicals are affected by raw material costs. The costs of all products made from fossil resources are dominated by the cost of these fossil resources. Biobased raw materials such as sugars, starches, plant oils and cellulosic materials, are already less expensive than many of their fossil counterparts. Through breeding and other tools the cost of these feedstocks will continue to decline and their environmental performance will improve. Thus the competitive position of biofuels and other bioproducts will improve with time. In contrast, the quality of fossil resources, particularly petroleum, will decline while their costs increase, both in monetary and environmental terms. For biobased raw materials the trend is in the opposite direction.
Thus movement towards a bioeconomy presents great opportunities for forward-thinking institutions to become catalysts for beneficial change and reap the related benefits. However, given the breadth of the issues involved (agronomy, public policy, microbiology and chemical engineering, to name just a few) and the depth of expertise required along with that breadth, it may be difficult for many institutions to successfully navigate the bioeconomy transition.
That is the purpose of this journal: to help a wide variety of institutions understand and better manage their own bioeconomy transition. Many good technical journals already exist in related fields. This is not another technical journal. Instead, Biofpr will provide reviews by recognized experts across the breadth of related issues, perspective pieces and many other services to help move the bioeconomy forward.
We welcome you.
Bruce E Dale
Editor-in-Chief
Related Links
Read this editorial on Wiley Interscience.
Bruce Dale is Professor at the department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, USA and won the Charles D Scott award in 1996.
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