Breeders’ rights, patents and genetic modification
European seed companies are worried about the future. The existing sector – particularly in the Netherlands, Germany and France – is founded upon plant breeders’ rights, but the patent system is gaining the upper hand. TTIP (the coming trade agreement between the EU and the US) could tip the balance towards patents. This is a
Systems thinking is not our forte
We all know the stories about DDT, fifty years ago – but did we learn from them? Not quite, says Ton Schoot Uiterkamp, a retired – but still very active – professor in environmental sciences at Groningen University. He has a lot of stories on his mind to prove his point. ‘We still do not
More guts needed for the bioeconomy
North-western Europe has the best feedstock in the world for biobased industries, says Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks’ CEO and largest PLA producer in the world. He could have added: also the largest sugar factories, the highest yields per hectare, outstanding research and an excellent chemical industry. Why then, does not the large-scale sustainable chemical industry of
Welcome to the age of CRISPR
Genetic modification is not a new technology. But a new tool, CRISPR, now elevates it to a much higher level. And op top of that, genetic modification is in the course of a rapid automation. This allows us to change microorganisms much quicker and cheaper than just a few years ago. Says Jack Pronk, professor
Bioeconomy: much more employment in biobased chemicals than in biofuels
More than once, we devoted our attention to the negative impact of biofuels policy on the biobased chemical industry. New calculations by Nova Institute now show that in the bioeconomy, biobased chemicals production leads to much more employment than biofuel production. Whereas both reduce CO2 emissions. Europe, what’s on your mind? Biofuels and biobased chemicals
Green Growth, much too optimistic?
Those who do not believe in the future, might be advised not to go there at all. All too often I have heard readers of our book ‘Groene Groei’ (Green Growth) tell us: ‘what you want cannot be done, much too optimistic, you would not suppose companies like Shell to give up their positions just
Waiting patiently (until the biobased economy has passed away)!?
Sorry, we publish this review of Dutch innovation policy in Dutch only.
Connecting Industries, a nice book but with limitations
Sorry, we publish the review of this book ‘Connecting Industries’ only in Dutch.
on: 22 January 2015