Over the last decade, the notion of the Circular Bioeconomy has been transformed from a vision to an agenda to address major national and global problems. New capabilities in the life sciences and computers will enable us to move to a renewable economy where natural resources will produce food, fuel, and energy and reduce pollutants. The bioeconomy will boost rural development, energy independence, and protection from uncertain climatic changes. Many major governments have established their own bioeconomy plans, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences came up with an excellent research agenda, CASA-Bio, that sets the direction for research, development, and the establishment of a bioeconomy that can develop new medicines, recycle, reuse, and reduce waste, provide new sources of energy, develop new materials, and better utilize the ocean and marine and aquaculture sustainably.
The extent to which the federal government will provide resources to implement the CASA-Bio agenda is uncertain. We hope it will get significant federal support; in the meantime, we can build a coalition of public and private parties to implement this agenda at various institutions. Berkeley can play an important role in being a center for such activities. In particular, we could organize meetings facilitating cooperation between parties interested in this agenda and pursue funding sources. We can establish research, education, and outreach programs in various aspects of the bioeconomy and work with partners in California and elsewhere to help make the bioeconomy a reality.
There are several building blocks essential for these efforts. The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) has established The International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC), which brings together scientists and practitioners from nine countries to address all the challenges facing the supply chains of emerging macroalgae industries, including producing genetic material, growing the macroalgae, harvesting, processing, and creating multiple products. By combining knowledge from traditional producers in Asia and Europe and cutting-edge laboratories, the Center wants to upscale the macroalgae industry from around $15 billion in annual production to hundreds of billions of products produced sustainably. The Berkeley center is one of six centers initiated by the NSF, each with its own distinct mission, and hopefully, they will provide the foundation for multiple bioeconomy ventures.
Berkeley has other assets crucial in developing multiple aspects of the bioeconomy. The Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), founded by Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, provides genomic engineering solutions to health, environmental, and agricultural challenges. It includes collaborators from around the world and develops cures for diseases (sickle cell), new crop varieties (drought and flood tolerance), and mechanisms to reduce pollution (methane emissions from cows). While university researchers develop these technologies, IGI works with practitioners on the ground to apply them in the field.
Berkeley has also developed entrepreneurial traditions of transferring knowledge to the private sector and establishing collaboration, leading to realized industrial activities. The Bakar Bio Labs include programs that accelerate research discoveries moving from the lab to the market by supporting new innovators and providing development grants. The path from an idea to a marketable product is treacherous and challenging, and most innovations don’t make it. The ability to offer financial and intellectual support to upscale innovations is crucial to enhance implementation success. The Bakar activities provide one mechanism to enhance bioeconomy innovations.
These unique activities, as well as strong schools of chemistry, engineering, and natural resources, have hundreds of scientists who can provide solutions to bioeconomy challenges. We hope to establish a Bioeconomy Graduate Group, which will eventually lead to an undergraduate program to provide the future expertise in the bioeconomy.
Berkeley also has cooperative extension specialists who coordinate with farm advisors and other partners throughout the state to diffuse knowledge and develop the foundations for upscaling innovation. The UC Berkeley campus is constrained by land availability, but fortunately, the Richmond Field Station has facilities and land that can be used for establishing research and development efforts for bioeconomy activities. Altogether, all these resources provide the base for cooperation to implement aspects of CASA-Bio in California, the U.S., and globally.
Herrick Fox, former director of Bioeconomy Activities for the USDA, emphasizes several avenues based on CASA-Bio that can be essential in the California and U.S. rural economies. They include initiatives to create valuable waste-based products within the circular bioeconomy. In particular, these activities can utilize forest and crop residues to produce fuels and sequester carbon, providing new value and reducing fire hazards. Another set of initiatives includes building resilient biomass supply chains for the bioeconomy. These activities include the development of biomass crops, technologies to harvest them, and infrastructure to process and transport them to contribute to rural development. A third avenue is the development of biomanufacturing to produce chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and sustainable materials for various activities, taking advantage of new developments in the life and information sciences.
I hope and trust that we will work together with partners on campus and around the world to develop research, education, and outreach programs that will contribute to building the bioeconomy.