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A path transition towards a bioeconomy–the crucial role of sustainability
Open accessAbstract
The bioeconomy is a worldwide used strategy to cope with ecological, social, and economic sustainability challenges. However, we analyze current bioeconomy strategies and trends to point out potential sustainability conflicts and transition challenges. Our analysis shows that the bioeconomy is not sustainable per se, as mere input substitution may entail welfare losses. Instead, it requires further debates and actions to avoid exacerbation of ecological and social strains. Sustainability has to be the key concept behind the bioeconomy and predominantly requires (1) sustainability of the resource base and (2) sustainability of processes and products, especially by (3) circular processes of material fluxes, not least to gain consumer acceptance for bio-based products. Otherwise, the bioeconomy would only entail the substitution of fossil resources for bio-based resources potentially lacking the generation of additional societal and ecological benefits and contribution to climate mitigation. As markets alone will not suffice to fulfil this path transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy, we argue that innovative governance is necessary to reduce competitive drawbacks compared to fossil resources (enabling function) and to secure ecological, social, and economic sustainability requirements (limiting function).
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“Similarly, the bioeconomy enables the transition from fossil-based to biomass-based industrial inputs and emphasizes the sustainable use of renewable resources for economic, environmental, and social benefits (Pfau et al., 2014; D'Amato et al., 2018; Gawel et al., 2019).”
From Circular Bioeconomy Concepts—A Perspective (2021) · cites this paper as Gawel et al., 2019
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“Some definitions suggest that the bioeconomy is not intrinsically sustainable just because it is based on renewable resources (Pfau et al., 2014; Gawel et al., 2019).”
From Circular Bioeconomy Concepts—A Perspective (2021) · cites this paper as Gawel et al., 2019
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Metadata
- Authors
- Gawel, E., Pannicke, N., & Hagemann, N.
- Affiliations
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Gawel, Erik
- Venue
- Sustainability
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-05-28
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 3005
- ISSN
- 2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2946868949
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 135
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 37.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (031A078A)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Sustainable Development and Environmental Management
- Keywords
- bioeconomy, bioproducts, circular economy, welfare loss, fossil resource substitution, consumer acceptance, bioeconomy governance, climate change mitigation, sustainability conflicts
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