The invaluable Knowable Magazine recently ran an article by Sandy Ong on plastic eating microorganisms. They might be the solution to a problem that looms for long already but hasn’t been solved so far: the growing pile of plastic waste. … Read more
As a human species, we are caught in a permanent struggle with nature. It disturbs our careful agriculture and grows weeds; they adapt to our herbicides: resistance. Moreover, nature reverts to resistance as we develop smart methods to fight illness. … Read more
The World Health Organization WHO expects antimicrobial resistance to become a persistent problem. A growing number of people develops resistance against antibiotics. In 2050, this might cause an additional 10 million people to die. What can we do to prevent … Read more
In nature, energy is free and always in ample supply. The sun delivers an energy flow to our planet of which we only use a few percent. Nature can perform all its wondrous works through micro technology, using just 1% … Read more
The Dutch site sciencelink.net recently devoted its attention to cultured meat. Not 100% vegetarian; for the instruction for meat production must be derived from a code derived from animals. But even so: it has great potential to substitute for ‘animal’ … Read more
Nature Communications ran an interesting article on the future of our food system; and specifically on the potential of micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts, moulds) to develop new foods and food ingredients. Our food system grapples with unsustainable practices, land degradation, and … Read more
The European GRETE project has come to an end. The aim of this research project was to develop new textiles from wood pulp. With partners from Finland, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal, it spanned many biobased sources and many technologies. … Read more
Thousands of developers of artificial intelligence recently asked for a moratorium on its development for half a year. ‘Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be … Read more
Apparently, there is a major obstacle for the energy transition: cost. We don’t always have solar and wind energy at hand, but there always is demand for electricity. Growing, as well – ongoing, as we will install more electric heating … Read more
Energy storage doesn’t dominate the news. Sustainable energy gets all the credits: solar, wind, hydropower. But these can only make a difference when combined with energy storage. And the good news is: this is in rapid development. High prices, rapid … Read more
Al last, the need to work towards zero-emission construction seems to dawn on the construction trade. Not an easy task, as the volume of building projects around the world is still growing. But at least, some in the branch have … Read more
Plastic pollution is a problem that that begins long before it reaches the environment, and therefore the solution should fulfil the same criterion. Two new European projects develop plastic technologies for that aim. One will produce biodegradable bioplastics; the other … Read more
What policy categories would be most suited for stimulation of sustainable innovation? Innovation subsidies? Taxation of heavily polluting activities? Strict environmental regulation? Empirical evidence shows: strict environmental regulation works best. Best by far, even. And it costs the least. Important … Read more
Plastics are wonderful materials; as far as their functionalities in direct use are concerned. But in many cases, they are a headache in the waste phase. For a long time, the waste phase used to be of minor importance to … Read more
Applications of graphene, that wonderful material, multiply all the time. The latest news concerns its application in concrete. Adding graphene to concrete can render it extremely strong and much more versatile. This is important because we will need much less … Read more
Until quite recently, lithium-ion batteries were supposed to be the pinnacle of battery technology. These devices would allow the electrification of transport, and indeed of much of the entire world. But they have now got competition from sodium-ion batteries. Not … Read more
MIT in Boston (UsA) is one of the scientific centres developing initiatives to stop climate change. On April 11, it announced five flagship projects in its Climate Grand Challenges. Among these, a project Revolutionizing agriculture with low-emissions, resilient crops. Intended … Read more
Thermal batteries are yet another way to store an excess of solar and wind power. According to the laws of physics, they would seem to incur major energy losses. But on the other hand, they might be very cheap and … Read more
The contours of the future energy system haven’t yet been drawn with great precision. Solar and wind energies lie at its foundation. But these come with their problems: at times they produce too much, at times too little energy. We … Read more
Each year, planet Earth loses 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forest. Since 1960, more than half of all tropical forests have disappeared. Particularly because of logging in the tropical rain forests of Brazil and Indonesia. Logging also takes … Read more
In comparison to most utopian views, RethinkX devotes a lot of attention to the Organizing System required for the transition. It stresses that we cannot just rely on technological innovations. Our thoughts and systems need to coevolve with the new … Read more
Modesty is not one of the obvious virtues of the RethinkX authors. The subtitle of their report Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030 (May 2017) reads: ‘the disruption of transportation and the collapse of the internal-combustion vehicle and oil industries’. Brought about by … Read more
The second domestication of plants and animals, the disruption of the cow, and the collapse of industrial livestock farming. Nothing could better sum up the pretension of the RethinkX report on food (September 2019) than this subtitle. The disruption of … Read more
The RethinkX report doesn’t fool around. It starts with a clarion call: ‘We are on the cusp of the fastest, deepest, most consequential transformation of human civilization in history, a transformation every bit as significant as the move from foraging … Read more
We discussed the Bt eggplant project in Bangladesh in an article by Hans Tramper, 3 years ago. It seemed to be very successful. Recently, professor Anthony Shelton of Cornell University reported on the project. He was involved in it from … Read more
Mankind has become cleverer all the time. Cleverness that manifests itself in subtlety: in order to arrive at a desired goal, we need less and less energy and resources. Fortunately so, because our planet can hardly sustain our growing wealth. … Read more
In a report released last month, Lux Research looked into CO2 utilization. The company forecasts a growth in this sector to $ 70 billion by 2030 and to $ 550 billion by 2040. CO2 will be put to good use … Read more
‘The chemicals and materials industry is going to see more dramatic change over the next 20 years than it has in at least the last 50,’ says Anthony Schiavo, Senior Analyst at Lux Research. They just completed a report on … Read more
Plastic recycling has become a hot topic. The seriousness of plastic pollution has forced itself upon us. Industry, indeed the world, needs to close the plastic loop. But we don’t know how yet. Industry and policy makers will have to … Read more
All over the world, antibiotics resistance increases. Overdose prescriptions are an important cause. And also the natural phenomenon of increasing resistance as the same medicine is being used for years at a stretch. The problem is severe in humane antibiotics … Read more
The solutions are here!, talking about major global problems. Solutions that exist already but are not generally applied. Or that are under severe and undeserved attack and therefore receive insufficient support. We have in mind: renewable energy and energy storage, … Read more
Battery recycling is an area long neglected by battery producers. Performance and cost were much more important. So now we are stuck with a rapidly growing heap of worn-out batteries of which we don’t know how to treat it. Or … Read more
Food loss and waste currently causes an estimated $1 trillion in economic losses globally each year, according to Lux Research, a Boston-based tech and advisory company. This constitutes not just an economic crisis but also a major humanitarian one. It … Read more
Solar energy is rapidly becoming so cheap that it can crowd out other land uses, like agriculture. The farmer may earn a lot more from a monoculture of solar panels than from any crop. But this is an unfortunate development; … Read more
The major pharmaceutical industry is going through a difficult time. Industry should find a new track. Biomedicines could open up a new chapter. This is the third of four articles on the pharmaceutical industry. Biomedicines, yes or no? For over … Read more
The major pharmaceutical industry (big pharma) is going through a difficult time. Industry needs to come on track again. Can the new superpowers India and China lead the way? This is the second of four articles on the pharmaceutical industry. … Read more
Major pharmaceutical companies (big pharma) are having a difficult time. Shareholders complain about falling profit margins; governments, insurance companies and patients complain about sky-high medicine prices. Industry should find a new direction – but which one? This is the first … Read more
Biobased Press published its manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’ on May 1, 2020. In this manifesto, we testify to the importance of science for solving mankind’s major global problems. Like global heating, plastic littering everywhere, insect decline, nutritional diseases because … Read more
Frances Arnold won the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize for her research on directed evolution. Directed evolution speeds up nature’s variation and selection process, and researchers use it to find the best enzymes for industrial applications. As Arnold summed it up: … Read more
Whereas the artificial hamburger has been launched with a lot of fuss a few years ago, artificial seafood has been developed in relative quiet. But it may come to the market much sooner. Texture and taste seem to be good, … Read more
As plastic waste can now be found in the remotest areas of the Earth, plastic recycling becomes urgent. We know that biodegradable plastics are a niche solution, so we need to organize and implement recycling of non-degradable plastics fast now. … Read more
Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem; and yet, the development of new antibiotics stagnates. Why? Don’t we need new antibiotics, on second thoughts? Or does industry judge that new developments will not earn them enough money? New antibiotics from … Read more
Antibiotics resistance of harmful organisms becomes a major problem – in agriculture, in human and veterinary medicine. Scientists now try to come up with new methods. They think that CRISPR (discovered less than 10 years ago) might be a solution. … Read more
Quickly, the world gets critical of plastic waste. It litters land, waterways and oceans. Until quite recently, rich countries could export their waste to poorer countries – for them to sort out the difficult tail of consumer society. But since … Read more
Researchers do not apply genetic modification just to microorganisms and plants. Animals are genetically modified as well, we will treat this in the articles of Essay 5. With regards to plants, the entire process of regulation and acceptation is complicated … Read more
‘With our trade of indoor farming, we would like to contribute to the solution of global food problems,’ says Marc Kreuger of the Dutch company Seven Steps To Heaven. ‘That is our mission, and we will execute it. Far too … Read more
In cisgenesis, we insert new DNA in a stable form into plant DNA, just like in transgenesis. The difference being that in transgenesis, the new DNA originates from another species, in cisgenesis from a plant with which the acceptor plant … Read more
CCU, the process to capture carbon dioxide and upcycle it to valuable fuels, chemicals and materials, may become very important this century. CCU kerosene may be much better than biobased kerosene for instance, when air travel is no longer supposed … Read more
MaterialDistrict Rotterdam, the yearly exposition and conference on new materials, has 140 exhibitors this year, 200 new materials, presentations by 100 front-runner start-ups & designers, and op top of that a conference program with some 60 speakers. Rotterdam Ahoy will … Read more
Golden rice symbolizes the protracted trench war between proponents and opponents of modern biotechnology. The Swiss Ingo Potrykus of ETH Zürich is the golden man behind the golden rice. With great ardour he defends this controversial rice, and attacks the … Read more